Title : How do cells sense the physical world
일시 : 2026년 6월 2일 (화), 17시
장소 : 아산이학관 433호
Speaker : 조명현 (고려대학교 생명과학대학)
Abstracts:
Cells connect with their environment through surface receptors and use physical tension in receptor-ligand bonds for various cellular processes . They assess the stiffness of their surroundings, regulating adhesion, migration, and differentiation. The force loading rate, or how quickly force is ramped up, is expected to be the key parameter in this stiffness sensing mechanism. Single-molecule techniques have revealed bond strength by measuring rupture force, but rupture force depends on loading rate. Thus, measuring physiological loading rates is essential to understanding the mechanical strength of individual bonds in context. We developed an overstretching tension sensor (OTS) to measure force over a wide range in physiological conditions with single-molecule sensitivity, even in mechanically active regions. Using serially connected OTSs, we demonstrated that the integrin loading rate ranged from 0.5 to 4 pN/s and was about three times higher in leukocytes compared to epithelial cells.