SEAN X. SUN, Ph.D.
Professor and Vice Chair
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Johns Hopkins University
http://sungroup.johnshopkins.edu

“Going with the flow: The role of water in Cell Mechanics and Cell Shape.”

Water flow across the cell membrane has important implications in cell and tissue mechanics. In this talk, we will discuss physical mechanisms driving water flow and shape changes in eukaryotic cells, and how cells controls its overall physical volume and force response. We will also show that directional pumping of water can drive cell movement (the osmotic engine), and discuss implications of this model in tissue function and disease. When water dynamics and actin dynamics are considered together, we discover that there is a transition from an actin-dominated regime to a water-dominated regime that is determined by the physical properties of the environment. Therefore, multiple mechanisms are needed to understand cell movement and cell shape changes in different biological environments.

Light refreshments will be served