ABSTRACT: It is now widely established that living cells sense mechanical signals and respond actively by changing their phenotype accordingly. This process, termed cellular mechanotransduction, is mediated by a combination of biochemical and biophysical mechanisms via conformational changes in the structure and function of specific molecules.
These mechanosensing molecules can function to initiate key biological processes, e.g. formation of focal adhesions at the interface of cell’s interaction with the extracellular microenvironment. Despite numerous studies in this field, our knowledge of the molecular mechanisms involved in the adhesion of cells to their extracelluar matrix (ECM) remains remarkably incomplete. In this talk, I will present some of our recent efforts aimed at better understanding of the molecular players involved in mechanosensing and mechanotransduction at the cell-ECM interface and the mechanochemical pathways that extend the signals into the nucleus thereby eliciting a biological response from the cell by influencing changes in gene expression and protein synthesis.
Bio-sketch: Mohammad R. K. Mofrad is professor of Mechanical Engineering and Bioengineering at the University of California Berkeley, where he is the director of Molecular Cell Biomechanics Laboratory (http://biomechanics.berkeley.edu) and also a faculty scientist with Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. Dr. Mofrad received his B.A.Sc. degree from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran, before moving to Canada where he received his M.A.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Waterloo and University of Toronto, respectively. After post-doctoral work at MIT and Harvard Medical School, he joined the faculty at Berkeley in 2005. Recipient of the NSF CAREER award in 2010, Prof. Mofrad's research program encompasses the development of molecular and multiscale models of cell mechanobiology, with specific attention to the role of two integrated macromolecular systems, namely the nuclear pore complex and integrin-mediated focal adhesions. Focal adhesions are the immediate sites of cell's interaction with the extracellular microenvironment, and as such they play a key role in mechanosensing and mechanotransduction at the interface of the cell with the extracellular world. Nuclear pores exquisitely control the traffic in and out of the nucleus, thereby regulating the gene expression and protein synthesis. Dr. Mofrad has published in varied journals ranging from Biophysical Journal, Physical Review and PLoS to ACS Nano, Biomaterials, Journal of MEMS and Lab on Chip. He has co-edited three books, including "Cytoskeletal Mechanics: Models and Measurements in Cell Mechanics", "Cellular Mechanotransduction: Diverse Perspectives from Molecules to Tissue" published by Cambridge University Press. Dr. Mofrad currently serves on the editorial board of a few journals including ASME Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, Journal of Biomechanics, and PLoS One.