Active mechanics

Biological cells possessive the ability to convert chemical energy into mechanical work. The cytoskeleton a cell is made up of filaments such as actin and microtubules, molecular motors, and a host of associated proteins, actin filaments, and intermediate filaments. These structures give the cell its shape and help organize the cell's parts. In addition, they provide a basis for movement and cell division.

Recent works

- M. Dedenon and P. Sens, Preprint:

Model of lamellipodium initiation during cell spreading

- M. Leoni and P. Sens, Phys. Rev. Let.  118 (2017), 228101

Model of cell crawling controlled by mechanosensitive adhesion.

- P. Sens and J. Plastino, J. Phys. Cond. Mat. 27 (2015) 273103, 

Membrane tension and cytoskeleton organization in cell motility

- R. Alert, J. Casademunt, J. Brugués and P. Sens, Biophys. J. 108 (2015), 1878–1886,

Model for Probing Membrane-Cortex Adhesion by Micropipette Aspiration and Fluctuation Spectroscopy

- M. Leoni and P. Sens. Phys. Rev. E 91 (2015), 022720,

Polarization of cells and soft objects driven by mechanical interactions : Consequences for migration and chemotaxis