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SUMMARY:Do cells care about physics? - Dr Jochen Guck\, Cavendish Laborato
 ry\, University of Cambridge
DTSTART:20100317T103000Z
DTEND:20100317T113000Z
UID:TALK23020@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:8272
DESCRIPTION:While most current biological research focuses on molecular as
 pects of cells\, we are interested in their global physical – mechanical
  and optical – properties. The mechanical properties of cells are largel
 y determined by the cytoskeleton\, an internal hybrid polymer network. Thi
 s cytoskeleton evolves during the normal differentiation of cells\, is inv
 olved in many cellular functions\, and is characteristically altered in ma
 ny diseases\, including cancer. We can exploit the deformability of the cy
 toskeleton as a link between molecular structure and biological function t
 o distinguish between different cells using a microfluidic optical stretch
 er. We find that optical deformability is sensitive enough to monitor the 
 subtle changes during the progression of cells from normal to cancerous an
 d even metastatic state. We can also distinguish stem cells from more diff
 erentiated cells. In both cases\, their mechanical properties are tuned to
  the specific requirements imposed on the cells by physical constraints. F
 urther research focuses on the interplay between cell and tissue mechanics
  for an improved understanding of axonal pathfinding during development an
 d novel therapeutic approaches in traumatic injuries to the CNS and neurod
 egenerative diseases. Another example for the importance of physics are th
 e optical properties of cells\, specifically in the retina. We have recent
 ly shown that there are glial cells in the retina that act as optical fibe
 rs and that photoreceptor cells even invert their usual nuclear chromatin 
 arrangement to turn them into microlenses. In both cases cells utilize phy
 sics in order to improve the light transmission through the retina and hel
 p to mitigate the disadvantage of its inverted structure.
LOCATION:Unilever Lecture Theatre\, Unilever Centre\, Department of Chemis
 try
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