Mechanobiology Institute

We’re organizing a conference at @ijmonod.bsky.social in Paris, January 2026, in memory of M.P. Sheetz — pioneer in cell mechanics and mechanobiology, co-discoverer of kinesin, and founder of @mbisg.bsky.social. Join us to explore his legacy.

mikeinmemoriam.sciencesconf.org

Have you ever wondered how microtubules withstand and respond to mechanical stress in cells?

Here we show by in vitro reconstitution assays that MAP65-1 and PRC1 promote microtubule nucleation on existing lattices, especially on those with structural irregularities linked to mechanical stress.

We would like to once again, thank all the sponsors for their generosity in supporting #MBIMPG2025 @leicamicrosystems.bsky.social @nikoninst.bsky.social @oxfordinstruments.bsky.social, Optics11Life, BGI, Office of Naval Research Global and Paeonia Foundation.

That closes out #MBIMPG2025! It would not have been possible without the efforts of the Scientific Organizing Committee, and special thanks to the admin team, A/V support, and student volunteers for ensuring a smooth conference 👏

Congratulations to our three poster prize winners for #MBIMPG2025!
🏆Rituraj Marwaha; Das Lab
🏆Boon Heng Ng; Chan Lab
🏆Marie Cutiongco ; @wtzhaolab.bsky.social
Thanks to all of the 115(!) poster presenters – our judges had a hard time deciding!

Remarkable intravital two-photon imaging videos from @hirashima0203.bsky.social @mbisg.bsky.social visualising sperm movement through the epididymal duct, revealing how epithelial contractions promote active turbulence of sperm collectives, essential for sperm to acquire motility. #MBIMPG2025

Zhao Wenting @wtzhaolab.bsky.social shared two complementary studies highlighting how immune cells use curvature-sensitive mechanisms to leverage on nanoscale membrane deformations- both intrinsic and extrinsic—regulating signaling and motility. #MBIMPG2025

Kim Whye Leong @mbisg.bsky.social examined lumen development in ovarian follicles, a key step for ovulation transitions from a fluid network into a phase-separated state, regulated by cell-fluid surface tension—these dynamics may help nutrient exchange. #MBIMPG2025

Daniel Stedman @jtimaging.bsky.social presented a method using widefield fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy to measure molecular tension changes at cell-cell interfaces within the beating zebrafish heart—both across a heartbeat and across developmental time. #MBIMPG2025

Returning to multi-dimensional models, Amit Pathak @washuengineers.bsky.social detailed how cell mechanical memory is retained from stiff 2D to fibrous 3D collagen matrices—even in hypoxic environments—to better understand tumor invasion in evolving microenvironments. #MBIMPG2025

Mineko Kengaku from Kyoto University continues the theme by sharing how Piezo-1 switches on a force generation mechanism in neuron migration and how DNA damage due to mechanostress in these narrow interstitial spaces is repaired by enhanced expression of topolsomerase IIb. #MBIMPG2025

Next, Tamal Das @tifr.res.in revealed the influence of lysosomes in leader cell formation and the ER in supporting lamellipodial crawling and purse-string contraction, identifying them as key integrators of mechanochemical cues to drive collective cell migration. #MBIMPG2025

Decoding the programming of biological shapes, @carldmodes.bsky.social @math-mpicbg.bsky.social models epithelial cell sheets as an active solid—studying in-plane collective cell behaviour in Drosophila development, moving up in complexity from the 1D cephalic furrow to 3D wing disc. #MBIMPG2025

After an energizing morning, look forward to our final session of #MBIMPG2025! Session 7 will cover the mechanics of developmental biology, from collective cell migration to differentiation, across time and space!

Just one more day of #MBIMPG2025 left! But plenty to look forward to—one last Session of scientific talks, and two social excursions to the jungles! An exotic morning rainforest jungle walk and evening drinks at the concrete jungle roof-top bars @ Marina Bay! 🏞️🍹 See you there!

Ivan Yow @mbisg.bsky.social @schmidtsciences.bsky.social investigated the mechanics of 3D spheroid formation. Fyn initiates spheroid formation via the RhoA-ROCK pathway, leading to increased tissue viscosity and tension - and may initiate cardiomyocyte transdifferentiation! #MBIMPG2025

Back to compressive stress with Frank van Drogen. Combining a phospho-proteomic approach with RNAi-based validation, he looked at the ERK5 pathway in mammary gland cells, showing how it reduces tension promoting the migratory response to compression. #MBIMPG2025

Great talk from Elizabeth Chen @echenlab.bsky.social on how cell-cell fusion is a conserved, asymmetric process - where one cell invades the other through invasive, mechanically stiff actin protrusions (bundled by dynamin & WIP!), to form a fusogenic synapse. #MBIMPG2025

Michel Steinmetz @psich.bsky.social showed how microtubules structurally interact with GEFH1 through its C1 domain. Identification and validation of microtubule-binding C1 domains in other signalling proteins revealed how microtubules can both receive and mediate signal transduction. #MBIMPG2025

Time for some plant mechanobiology Yansong Miao from NTU Singapore spoke about how condensation drives immunity in plant cells. Using phase separation, modelling and biophysics, he presented how the mechanical scaffolding structure of the plant cell changes to combat pathogens. #MBIMPG2025

@artemefremov.bsky.social tested a semi-analytical model that integrates experimental data and theory, revealing the importance of adaptor protein elasticity and local molecular clutch-ECM interactions in cell mechanosensing and force transduction during adhesion. #MBIMPG2025

Liubov Izmaylova focused on transepithelial invasion, a vital step for successful embryo implantation. By developing a novel 3D model to visualize invasion, she identified the importance of heterologous desmosomes between trophoblast and epithelia. #MBIMPG2025

More on compression! Michael Samuel detailed how compressive stress from rapid mammary tumour growth triggers a Piezo1-dependent pathway that activates Rho-ROCK-mediated mechanosignaling contributing to a mechanical memory that drives cancer progression. #MBIMPG2025

Eugenia Piddini shares recent work on how differential p53 activity triggers mechanically driven cell competition: p53KO hESCs resist high‑density compaction and exhibit increased mechanical fitness. This allows them to eliminate WT cells and drives clonal dominance. #MBIMPG2025

Keng-Hui Lin from Academia Sinica presented a mechanical model that looks at tension-dependent wave speed and amputation-dependent travelling distance to show this coupling of mechanical signals enables positional sensing for tissue regeneration for Zebrafish wound healing. #MBIMPG2025

We’re back with session 6 with a range of topics on regeneration, models quantifying mechanosensing, compressive stress in tumorgenesis and a close look at mechanics behind cell-cell junctions! #MBIMPG2025

Continuing the theme, Martina Di Santo from University of Trento combined live-cell optogenetics and mechanical phenotyping via Brillouin microscopy to map viscoelasticity of MLL4-dependent chromatin condensates and uncover mechano-transduction defects in Kabuki syndrome. #MBIMPG2025

Kirill V Larin shines light on development and applications of optical coherence elastography and Brillouin spectroscopy techniques to quantify biomechanical properties of cells and tissues non-invasively, with some striking examples from eye structure. #MBIMPG2025

Order matters! Aurelien Roux @rouxlab.bsky.social studied the formation of multi-cellular tornado-like structures and regeneration of heads in hydra to share with us how stress fields, topology and geometry of initial tissue organization set the sequence of morphogenesis. #MBIMPG2025

Another look at the drosophila wing! Frank Julicher @mpipks.bsky.social looks at how the wing forms within the pupal phase of morphogenesis. He discussed the physics underlying a hexatic crystalline order found in the wing epithelium that is controlled by cell size heterogeneity. #MBIMPG2025