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SUMMARY:MechE Colloquium: How do forces transmitted from a cell's environm
 ent affect DNA organization?
DTSTART:20230321T120000
DTEND:20230321T130000
DTSTAMP:20260407T043811Z
UID:deaa178abb4ada56f4e4407c8f94b423686612d4eaab587964a4ae86
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Vivek Shenoy\, Center for Engineering Mechanobiology and
  School of Engineering and Applied Sciences\, University of Pennsylvania\n
 Abstract: Microscale changes in tissue environment are translated to chang
 es in cell behavior and phenotype\, yet the mechanisms behind how these ph
 enotypic changes occur are poorly understood. Here\, we describe and model
  chromatin\, which stores genetic information within the cell nucleus\, as
  a dynamic nanomaterial whose configuration is modulated by chemo-mechanic
 al cues in the microenvironment [1\,2]. Our findings indicate that physiol
 ogic chemo-mechanical cues can directly regulate chromatin architecture in
  progenitor cell populations. Through direct experimental observation and 
 modeling that incorporates phase transitions and histone methylation kinet
 ics\, we demonstrate that soft environmental cues drive chromatin relocali
 zation to the nuclear boundary (leading to the formation of Lamin-Associat
 ed Domains) and compaction. Conversely\, dynamic stiffening attenuates the
 se changes. We show how methylation and acetylation impact the spatial dis
 tribution of the stiffness of the nucleus. Interestingly\, in diseased hum
 an fibrous tissue cells\, this link between mechanical inputs and chromati
 n nano-scale remodeling is abrogated. These data indicate that chromatin d
 ynamics and plasticity may be hallmarks of disease progression and targets
  for therapeutic intervention.\n\n[1] Heo et al.\, Diseased Fibrous Tissue
  Cells Lose Capacity for Dynamic Nanoscale Genome Reorganization in Respon
 se to Changing Chemo-Mechanical Cues\, NATURE BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING https
 ://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-022-00910-5: AUGUST 2022.\n[2] F. Alisafaei et a
 l.\, Regulation of Nuclear Architecture\, Mechanics and Nucleo-cytoplasmic
  Shuttling of Epigenetic Factors by Cell Geometric Constraints PROCEEDINGS
  OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES\, 116(27): 13200-13209\, JULY 2019.\n
 \nBiography: Vivek Shenoy is the Eduardo D. Glandt President’s Distingui
 shed Professor in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the Un
 iversity of Pennsylvania. Dr. Shenoy's research focuses on developing theo
 retical concepts and numerical methods to understand the basic principles 
 that control the behavior of biological systems. He has used rigorous anal
 ytical methods and multiscale modeling techniques\, ranging from molecular
  to continuum methods\, to gain physical insight into a myriad of problems
  in mechanobiology and biomaterials. He is the principal investigator and 
 director of the NSF-funded Science and Technology Center for Engineering M
 echanobiology established in 2016 and an MPI of the National Cancer Instit
 ute-funded Metastasis Research Network (MetNet) center funded in 2021. She
 noy is an ISI Web of Science/Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher.
LOCATION:MED 0 1418 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==MED%200%201418 https://epf
 l.zoom.us/j/64230566011
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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