Mechanobiology of differentiation and invasion in 3D cell assemblies

The goal of this project area is to elucidate the mechanobiological mechanisms underlying the formation and fate of spherical cell assemblies. We study these mechanisms in the following paradigms:: transition of 2D iPSC colonies into 3D self-organized embryoid bodies, breast tissue homeostasis and tumor invasion under external shear stress, and human embryo implantation. The observations are modeled to define the fundamental framework for the interactions and hierarchical organization of epithelial cells within tissues in mechanoresponses.
Institute of Biological Information Processing (IBI-2): Mechanobiology, Forschungszentrum Jülich
Breast gland development and cell invasion in strained microenvironments
Erik Noetzel-Reiss
Principal Investigator
Eric Platz-Baudin
Associated Doctoral Researcher
Mechanobiological regulation of cell migration by the basement membrane
Sophia Götz
Doctoral Researcher
Elucidating shear strain-induced mechanotransduction circuits in normal breast gland and cancer development
Project overview. Workflow to elucidate strain-induced mechanotransduction circuits in normal breast gland and cancer development.