June 25, 2012

Nanomechanical Biology: Stiffness

The stiffness of both biological and physical structures are determined by their geometric properties and their inherent material properties (modulus). We are studying the mechanical properties of complex biological structures like proteins, cells, and tissues. Since biology is inherently nonlinear and heterogenous, we devise simple polymer systems to mimic biological structure.

polymer linkers can be utilized to count biological bonds

Extreme hardening of ultrathin PDMS films

ovarian epithelial cancer cells are quite deformable

lung extracellular matrix affects epithelial cell mechanics