All are welcome, (attendance required for graduate students). Lunch is provided.

Ovijit Chaudhuri, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University

Extracellular matrix viscoelasticity and its impact on cells

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a complex assembly of structural proteins that provides physical support and biochemical signaling to cells in tissues. Over the last two decades, studies have revealed the important role that ECM elasticity plays in regulating a variety of biological processes in cells, including stem cell differentiation and cancer progression. However, tissues and ECM are often viscoelastic, displaying stress relaxation over time in response to a deformation, and can exhibit mechanical plasticity. My group has been focused on elucidating the impact of ECM elasticity, viscoelasticity, and plasticity on cells. Our approach involves the use engineered biomaterials for 3D culture, in which the mechanical properties can be independently modulated. In this talk, I will discuss our recent findings on the impact of ECM viscoelasticity on cartilage matrix formation by chondrocytes and cell-cycle progression, the regulation of cancer cell invasion and migration by matrix plasticity, and the transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of mechanotransduction in breast cancer progression.