Cellular Mechanics And Biophysics

This book focuses on the mechanical properties of cells, discussing the basic concepts and processes in the fields of immunology, biology, and biochemistry. It introduces and explains state-of-the-art biophysical methods and examines the role of mechanical properties in the cell/protein interaction with the connective tissue microenvironment. The book presents a unique perspective on cellular mechanics and biophysics by combining the mechanical, biological, physical, biochemical, medical, and immunological views, highlighting the importance of the mechanical properties of cells and biophysical measurement methods. The book guides readers through the complex and growing field of cellular mechanics and biophysics, connecting and discussing research findings from different fields such as biology, cell biology, immunology, physics, and medicine. Featuring suggestions for further reading throughout and addressing a wide selection of biophysical topics, this book is an indispensable guide for graduate and advanced undergraduate students in the fields of cellular mechanics and biophysics.

New edition exploring the mechanical features of biological cells for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in physics and biomedical engineering.

Introduction to Cell Mechanics and Mechanobiology is designed for a one-semester course in the mechanics of the cell offered to advanced undergraduate and graduate students in biomedical engineering, bioengineering, and mechanical engineering. It teaches a quantitative understanding of the way cells detect, modify, and respond to the physical prope

Cell mechanics is the field of study that looks at how cells detect, modify, and respond to the physical properties of the cell environment. Cells communicate with each other through chemical and physical signals which are involved in a range of process from embryogenesis and wound healing to pathological conditions such as cancerous invasion. Similar principles are also likely to be critical for success in regenerative medicine. Cell mechanics is thus central to understanding these principles. As cell mechanics draws from the fields of biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, and mathematics, this book aims not only to provide a collection of research methods, but also to develop a common language among scientists who share the interest in cell mechanics but enter the field with diverse backgrounds. To this end all of the contributing authors have sought to explain in plain language the nature of the biological problems, the rationale for the approaches, in addition to the methods themselves. In addition, to balance practical utility against conceptual advances, Cell Mechanics has intentionally included both chapters that provide detailed recipes and those that emphasize basic principles. Presents a distinctive emphasis on matrix mechanics and their interplay with cell functions Includes highly significant topics relevant to basic and translational research, as well as tissue engineering Emphasizes mechanical input and output of cells

"Advances in Cell Mechanics" presents the latest developments in cell mechanics and biophysics, mainly focusing on interdisciplinary research in cell biology and the biophysics of cells. Moreover, a unique feature of the book is its emphasis on the molecular and complex continuum modeling and simulations of the cells. It may be the first work that brings rigorous and quantitative scientific analysis and state-of-the-art simulation technology into cell biology research. The book is intended for researchers and graduate students working in the fields of molecular cell biology, bio-engineering and bio-mechanics, soft matter physics, computational mechanics, bio-chemistry and bio-medicine. All contributors are leading scholars in their respective fields. Dr. Shaofan Li is a professor and an expert for computational mechanics at the University of California-Berkeley, USA; Dr. Bohua Sun is a professor at Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa.

Cell mechanics and cellular engineering may be defined as the application of principles and methods of engineering and life sciences toward fundamental understanding of structure-function relationships in normal and pathological cells and the development of biological substitutes to restore cellular functions. This definition is derived from one developed for tissue engineering at a 1988 NSF workshop. The reader of this volume will see the definition being applied and stretched to study cell and tissue structure-function relationships. The best way to define a field is really to let the investigators describe their areas of study. Perhaps cell mechanics could be compartmentalized by remembering how some of the earliest thinkers wrote about the effects of mechanics on growth. As early as 1638, Galileo hypothesized that gravity and of living mechanical forces place limits on the growth and architecture organisms. It seems only fitting that Robert Hooke, who gave us Hooke's law of elasticity, also gave us the word "cell" in his 1665 text, Micrographid, to designate these elementary entities of life. Julius Wolffs 1899 treatise on the function and form of the trabecular architecture provided an incisive example of the relationship between the structure of the body and the mechanical load it bears. In 1917, D' Arcy Thompson's On Growth and Form revolutionized the analysis of biological processes by introducing cogent physical explanations of the relationships between the structure and function of cells and organisms.

Exploring the mechanical features of biological cells, including their architecture and stability, this textbook is a pedagogical introduction to the interdisciplinary fields of cell mechanics and soft matter physics from both experimental and theoretical perspectives. This second edition has been greatly updated and expanded, with new chapters on complex filaments, the cell division cycle, the mechanisms of control and organization in the cell, and fluctuation phenomena. The textbook is now in full color which enhances the diagrams and allows the inclusion of new microscopy images. With around 280 end-of-chapter exercises exploring further applications, this textbook is ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in physics and biomedical engineering. A website hosted by the author contains extra support material, diagrams and lecture notes, and is available at www.cambridge.org/Boal.

Systems Biomechanics of the Cell attempts to outline systems biomechanics of the cell as an emergent and promising discipline. The new field owes conceptually to cell mechanics, organism-level systems biomechanics, and biology of biochemical systems. Its distinct methodology is to elucidate the structure and behavior of the cell by analyzing the unintuitive collective effects of elementary physical forces that interact within the heritable cellular framework. The problematics amenable to this approach includes the variety of cellular activities that involve the form and movement of the cell body and boundary (nucleus, centrosome, microtubules, cortex, and membrane). Among the elementary system effects in the biomechanics of the cell, instability of symmetry, emergent irreversibility, and multiperiodic dissipative motion can be noted. Research results from recent journal articles are placed in this unifying framework. It is suggested that the emergent discipline has the potential to expand the spectrum of questions asked about the cell, and to further clarify the physical nature of animate matter and motion.