Guest Editors
Ion Andreu Arzuaga
IBEC
Over the last years, Dr. Ion Andreu has been working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Cellular and Molecular Mechanobiology group led by Pere Roca-Cusachs. He is a Materials Engineer, and after an MSc in Bioengineering at the University of Navarra, he directed his career towards the mechanics of cells and tissues. He carried out his PhD under the supervision of Reyes Elizalde, studying the micromechanical properties of the heart in homeostasis and disease. He has co-supervised one PhD student, and actually, he is co-supervisor of 2 more PhD students. Lately, Dr. Andreu’s research has been focused in understanding mechanical force transduction in cells. Among other collaborations, he has studied how forces to the cell nucleus regulate transport across nuclear pores. He has co-supervised PhD students during his career.
Juan F. Abenza
IBEC
Juan F. Abenza is a senior postdoc at the “Integrative cell and tissue dynamics” group directed by Professor Xavier Trepat at IBEC (Barcelona, Spain). After graduating as a biologist at the University of Murcia (Spain), he obtained his PhD by studying Rab GTPases' role in the identity and dynamics of intracellular membranes at the lab of Professor Miguel Á. Peñalva at CIB-CSIC (Madrid, Spain). Afterward, he moved to the University of Cambridge (Cambridge, United Kingdom), where he investigated the influence of mechanics in fission yeast growth patterns in the group of Professor Rafael Carazo Salas at the Gurdon Institute and the Department of Genetics. He currently leads a project about the mechanobiology of the mammalian circadian clock, funded by Beatriu de Pinós and Marie Skłodowska-Curie individual fellowships.
Leone Rossetti
IBEC
Leone Rossetti is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Bioengineering of Catalonia in the Integrative Cell and Tissue Dynamics group led by Professor Xavier Trepat. He received his MSc in Physics from the University of Milan-Bicocca and his PhD from the Technical University of Munich. He conducted his doctoral thesis under the supervision of Professor Andreas R. Bausch, studying the micromechanical properties of hard-soft junctions in connective tissue. Dr. Rossetti’s postdoctoral work has been funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual fellowship. His current research focuses on how mechanobiological processes regulate collective phenomena in tissues, especially within leader-follower dynamics during cell migration.
Collection Overview
Mechanobiology is a scientific field that seeks to understand the role of mechanical forces in biological functions. The regulation of cellular functions through mechanical forces relies on mechanisms at various length scales, from unfolding forces of single molecules to mechanical stress at the whole organ level. The mechanical control relies on several structures, such as integrins, that behave as force sensors, and others, such as PIEZO channels, are force transducers. The field is now integrating purely mechanical mechanisms and structures in problems previously limited to molecular biology and genetics. This integration of disciplines has opened new avenues in the understanding of homeostasis and disease and the development of diagnostic tools. Also, the field's interdisciplinary nature has instigated different labs to the generation of new methods, either by adapting similar techniques or by developing ab initio. Although these methodological developments have significantly pushed the field, they also complicate the standardization and comparison of results. By giving details of the most relevant techniques, this collection aims to help standardize and democratize the methodological access to the field. This collection covers methods from single-molecule to the tissue level, both for mechanical characterization and mechanical stimulation, either by applying forces or by mechanochemical tunning cues of the environment.
Articles
High-Speed Magnetic Tweezers for Nanomechanical Measurements on Force-Sensitive Elements
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Cited by 6
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2023
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1Department of Physics, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 2School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, 3Institute for Molecular Biology and Genetics, Seoul National University, 4School of Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH)