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Lifetimes of bound states of protein complexes or biomolecule folded states typically decrease when subject to mechanical force. However, a plethora of biological systems exhibit the counter-intuitive phenomenon of catch bonding, where…

Recently experiments showed that some adhesive receptor-ligand complexes increase their lifetimes when they are stretched by mechanical force, while the force increase beyond some thresholds their lifetimes decrease. Several specific…

Focal adhesions are the loci of cellular adhesion to the extracellular matrix. At these sites, various integrins forge connections between the intracellular cytoskeleton and the outside world: large patches of multiple types of integrins…

Catch-bonds, whereby noncovalent ligand-receptor interactions are counterintuitively reinforced by tensile forces, play a major role in cell adhesion under mechanical stress. A basic prerequisite for catch-bond formation is that…

While most chemical bonds weaken under the action of mechanical force (called slip bond behavior), nature has developed bonds that do the opposite: their lifetime increases as force is applied. While such catch bonds have been studied quite…

Catch bonds are interactions whose lifetimes increase under mechanical load, a counterintuitive behaviour that underlies diverse biological processes. Translating this mechanism to synthetic materials offers the potential to create systems…

Mechanical force regulates the formation and growth of cell-cell junctions. Cadherin is a prominent homotypic cell adhesion molecule that plays a crucial role in establishment of intercellular adhesion. It is known that the transmitted…

Recently experiments showed that some biological noncovalent bonds increase their lifetimes when they are stretched by an external force, and their lifetimes will decrease when the force increases further. Several specific quantitative…

Cells make use of semi-flexible biopolymers such as actin or intermediate filaments to control their local viscoelastic response by dynamically adjusting the concentration and type of cross-linker molecules. The microstructure of the…

Protein-ligand interactions are crucial for a wide range of physiological processes. Many cellular functions result in these non-covalent `bonds' being mechanically strained, and this can be integral to proper cellular function. Broadly,…

The lifetimes of non-covalent A:a knob-hole bonds in fibrin probed with the optical trap-based force-clamp first increases ("catch bonds") and then decreases ("slip bonds") with increasing tensile force. Molecular modeling of…

Cell crawling requires the generation of intracellular forces by the cytoskeleton and their transmission to an extracellular substrate through specific adhesion molecules. Crawling cells show many features of excitable systems, such as…

Single receptor-ligand bonds have finite lifetimes, so that biological systems can dynamically react to changes in their environment. In cell adhesion, adhesion bonds usually act cooperatively in adhesion clusters. Outside the cellular…

The one-dimensional crawling movement of a cell is considered in this theoretical study. Our active gel model shows that for a cell with weakly mechanosensitive adhesion complexes, as myosin contractility increases, a cell starts to move at…

Cellular form and function emerge from complex mechanochemical systems within the cytoplasm. No systematic strategy currently exists to infer large-scale physical properties of a cell from its many molecular components. This is a…

The sliding friction force exerted by stochastic linkers interacting with a moving filament is calculated. The elastic properties of the substrate on which the linkers are anchored are shown to strongly influence the friction force. In some…

A quantitative understanding of how cells interact with their extracellular matrix via molecular bonds is fundamental for many important processes in cell biology and engineering. In these interactions, the deformability of cells and matrix…

We develop a stochastic kinetic model of a pre-formed attachment of a mictrotuble (MT) with a cell cortex, in which the MT is tethered to the cell by a group of active motor proteins. Such an attachment is a particularly unique case of…

Branched actin networks exert pushing forces in eukaryotic cells, and adapt their stiffness to their environment. The physical basis for their mechanics and adaptability is however not understood. Indeed, here we show that their high…

Mechanical loading generally weakens adhesive structures and eventually leads to their rupture. However, biological systems can adapt to loads by strengthening adhesions, which is essential for maintaining the integrity of tissue and whole…