101st ITC |
Mechanics of Cells and Tissues: Sensing, Generating and Coordinating Forces in Biological Systems |
| Forces play key roles in many biological processes. In addition to underlying the contraction of muscle and the beating of cilia and flagella, forces drive and regulate many other cellular activities such as organelle transport, cell motility, mitosis and cytokinesis, cell polarity and epithelial morphogenesis. Many, perhaps all, of these complex processes display emergent properties that depend on the sensation of forces generated within the respective mechanical systems - the cell membrane, the actin cortex, microvilli and stereocilia, the axoneme, the mitotic spindle - feeding back on the force-generating apparatus.The molecular basis of force sensation, and how force production is coordinated throughout cells and tissues is poorly understood. This conference aims to bring together leading researchers working on problems at the molecular, cellular, tissue and organismal levels, taking both experimental and theoretical approaches. | |
| Chair: | Jonathon Howard (Dresden, GERMANY) Julie Theriot (Stanford, CA, USA) |
| Date: | 17-21 March, 2010 (Participation by invitation only) |
| Speakers include |
Patricia Bassereau (Paris, FRANCE) |