Speakers
Description
Understanding how cells sense, generate, and respond to physical forces is central to explaining a wide range of biological processes, from collective migration and tissue morphogenesis to tumour invasion and intracellular signalling \cite{Romani_2021}. Mathematical and computational models that integrate the mechanical properties of cells and/or their environment have become essential tools for uncovering the principles underlying these phenomena \cite{Cheng_2017, Camley_2017}. Such mechanochemical approaches provide new insights into how physical forces interact with signalling pathways, offering improved understanding of cell function, development, and disease progression.
This mini-symposium brings together researchers developing state-of-the-art theoretical, mechanochemical, and simulation-based frameworks that explicitly incorporate the physical properties of cells and their microenvironment. The talks will showcase diverse modelling approaches—ranging from continuum and agent-based descriptions to multiscale and hybrid methods—aimed at exploring how force generation, deformation, and cell shape drive cellular behaviour.
Bibliography
@article{Romani_2021, title={Crosstalk between mechanotransduction and metabolism}, volume={22}, rights={2020 Springer Nature Limited}, ISSN={1471-0080}, DOI={10.1038/s41580-020-00306-w}, number={1}, journal={Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology}, author={Romani, Patrizia and Valcarcel-Jimenez, Lorea and Frezza, Christian and Dupont, Sirio}, year={2021}, pages={22–38} }
@article{Cheng_2017, title={Cellular mechanosensing of the biophysical microenvironment: A review of mathematical models of biophysical regulation of cell responses}, volume={22–23}, ISSN={1571-0645}, DOI={10.1016/j.plrev.2017.06.016}, journal={Physics of Life Reviews}, author={Cheng, Bo and Lin, Min and Huang, Guoyou and Li, Yuhui and Ji, Baohua and Genin, Guy M. and Deshpande, Vikram S. and Lu, Tian Jian and Xu, Feng}, year={2017}, pages={88–119} }
@article{Camley_2017, title={Physical models of collective cell motility: from cell to tissue}, volume={50}, DOI={10.1088/1361-6463/aa56fe}, journal={Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics}, author={Camley, B A and Rappel, W-J}, year={2017}, pages={113002} }
