Mechanobiology News and Research

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Researchers identify roles of matrix stiffness and mechanotransduction in cardiac reprogramming

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in humans. Worldwide, as the population ages, the burden of treating heart failure is increasing; opportunities for heart transplantation cannot keep pace.

31 Aug 2020

Research may provide new insights into wound healing

When we get a wound on our skin, the cells in our bodies quickly mobilize to repair it. While it has been known how cells heal wounds and how scars form, a team led by researchers from Washington University in St. Louis has determined for the first time how the process begins, which may provide new insight into wound healing, fibrosis and cancer metastasis.

29 Jul 2020

Texas A&M researcher awarded $5 million CPRIT grant to further cancer studies

On May 20, Dr. Tanmay Lele, professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M University, received a $5 million Recruitment of Established Investigators grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas to further knowledge about cancer and how it progresses.

22 Jul 2020

Study reveals how overactive immune cells aggravate heart valve disease

A new study using organ-on-a-chip technology reveals how overactive immune cells aggravate heart valve disease and how this damaging hyperactivity could potentially be controlled.

8 Jul 2020

Researchers show new way to help the body efficiently repair injuries

By softening a cell's nucleus so that it can squeeze its way through dense connective tissues, a group of researchers believe they've demonstrated a new way to help the body efficiently repair injuries.

22 Jun 2020

Researchers deconstruct the mechanisms that control wound healing

ETH researchers have deconstructed the mechanisms that control wound healing and scar formation in more detail.

3 Jun 2020

Rejuvenated fibroblasts could be used in regenerative medicine, stem cell engineering

Fibroblasts are the most common connective tissue cells. They produce the structural framework for animal tissues, synthesize the extracellular matrix and collagen, and play a critical role in wound healing.

26 May 2020

Wyss Institute and Cytosurge collaborate to improve CRISPR multiplexing

Today, the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Cytosurge AG, a company manufacturing unique high-precision nanotechnology instruments, announced that they will collaboratively investigate CRISPR-based approaches to more effectively introduce multiple edits into the genome of single cells, while minimizing CRISPR-related toxicity.

4 May 2020

UCI makes tremendous strides in prevention, early detection and treatment of cancer

Like most people, John Gifford wasn't looking forward to a colonoscopy when he arrived on the UCI Medical Center campus in Orange in 2018.

23 Feb 2020

Mechanical stress can interrupt bacteria’s ability to survive toxin exposure

A random conversation between two Cornell researchers at a child's birthday party led to a collaboration and new understanding of how bacteria resist toxins, which may lead to new tools in the fight against harmful infections.

5 Dec 2019

Study shows how fiber spacing could control cell sticking

Researchers from the Mechanobiology Institute at the National University of Singapore have shown that cells can attach to the fibrous protein meshwork that surrounds them only if the fibers are spaced close enough.

26 Nov 2019

NYU researcher awarded $1.7 million NIH grant to optimize cancer treatment

Weiqiang Chen, assistant professor of biomedical engineering and mechanical and aerospace engineering at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, has been awarded the Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (R35) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, a division of the National Institutes of Health.

29 Oct 2019

New grants support research on mechanics of tumor cells

At the cellular level, cancer can be viewed as a mechanical engineering challenge. The disease alters the structure and function of cells and tissues, which are meant to perform very specific tasks.

8 Oct 2019

Collagen fiber length may be a key overlooked parameter used by normal cells to become invasive

Collagen is the most abundant protein in mammals, making up skin, bone, tendons and other soft tissues. Its fibrous nature helps cells to move throughout the body, but until now, it wasn't clear how the length of fibers influences how cells move in groups.

8 Oct 2019

New blinking eye-on-a-chip can be used for disease modeling and drug testing

People who spend eight or more hours a day staring at a computer screen may notice their eyes becoming tired or dry, and, if those conditions are severe enough, they may eventually develop dry eye disease.

5 Aug 2019

New DIY pressure pump enables more people to test water and blood samples

A simple pressure pump, made from balloons and nylon stockings, means more people in more places will be able to test water contaminants and blood samples.

30 Jul 2019

Innovative microfluidic device simplifies study of blood cells, opens new organ-on-chip possibilities

A simple innovation the size of a grain of sand means we can now analyze cells and tiny particles as if they were inside the human body.

9 May 2019

Stanford researchers detail how hits to the side of the head cause concussion

Concussion researchers have long suggested that damage to the corpus callosum, a thick bundle of nerves that connects the brain's two halves, could result in some common side effects of concussion, like dizziness or vision problems.

13 Mar 2019

Researchers elucidate how embryonic cells and tissues respond to force

Accumulated evidence suggests that physical force plays an important role in various developmental processes of fertilized animal eggs.

8 Mar 2019

$Better prediction of osteoporotic hip fractures using 3D simulation of bone densitometry$

Better prediction of osteoporotic hip fractures using 3D simulation of bone densitometry

Osteoporosis is a skeletal disease in which there is a decrease in bone mass density. The bones become more porous and fragile making them more susceptible to fracture. This disease reduces bone density and weakens the bone.

6 Mar 2019