Nov. 13, 2010

Cellular and Nuclear Mechanics

Atomic force microscopy can be used to characterize cells and cell nuclei mechanically under physiological conditions by local indentation. Mechanical properties of cells and cell nuclei reflect the status of the the actin network and the nuclear lamina respectively. For cells, the elastic modulus can be obtained by fitting the non-linear Hertz model to the force indentation curves. In the case of cell nuclei, an effective spring constant can be obtained from a linear fit to the force curves. moreAug. 02, 2010

Nanomechanics of Collagen Fibrils

Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human or animal body. It is found in ligaments, tendons, skin, cartilage, bones, cornea, sclera (white of the eye), and blood vessels to name but a few. All of these tissues are biomechanically important; therefore, knowing the mechanical properties of collagen at all hierarchical levels or length-scales is of critical importance. Our studies have concentrated on the mechanics of collagen fibrils from bovine Achilles tendon, which is a self-assembly of aligned monomeric tropocollagen molecules. more