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Noncollinear antiferromagnets offer much promise for antiferromagnetic spintronics and neuromorphic applications with a plethora of functional properties surpassing many competing magnetic systems. Films grown on mismatched substrates may…
In processes such as embryo shaping, wound healing, and malignant cell invasion, epithelial cells transition between dispersed phases, where the cells move independently, and condensed phases, where they aggregate and deform to close gaps,…
Morphogenetic dynamics of tissue sheets require coordinated cell shape changes regulated by global patterning of mechanical forces. Inspired by such biological phenomena, we propose a minimal mechanochemical model based on the notion that…
Chitin is one of the most abundant biomaterials in nature, with 10^10 tons produced annually as hierarchically organized nanofibril fillers to reinforce the exoskeletons of arthropods. This green and cheap biomaterial has attracted great…
The cell cortex is a thin layer beneath the plasma membrane that gives animal cells mechanical resistance and drives most of their shape changes, from migration, division to multicellular morphogenesis. It is mainly composed of actin…
Biological organisms often have elongated, flexible structures with some degree of chirality in their bodies or movements. In nature, these organisms frequently take advantage of self-encapsulation mechanisms that create folded…
We calculate the elastic field mediated interaction between macroscopic particles in a columnar hexagonal phase. The interaction is found to be long-ranged and non-central, with both attractive and repulsive parts. We show how the…
The forces that mixtures of motorized and passive crosslinking proteins collectively generate between cytoskeletal filaments within our cells are the key drivers of active cellular mechanics. Despite their importance, a unified theory to…
The cells and tissues that make up our body juggle contradictory mechanical demands. It is crucial for their survival to be able to withstand large mechanical loads, but it is equally crucial for them to produce forces and actively change…
Triadic interactions are higher-order interactions that occur when a set of nodes affects the interaction between two other nodes. Examples of triadic interactions are present in the brain when glia modulate the synaptic signals among…
Fabrics are flexible thin structures made of entangled yarn or fibers, yet the topological bases of their mechanics remain poorly understood. For weft knitted fabrics, we describe how the entanglement of adjacent stitches contributes to the…
Recent studies have revealed the complex structure of nerve signals in axons. There is experimental evidence that the propagation of an electrical signal (action potential) is accompanied by mechanical and thermal effects. In this paper,…
Protein folding cooperativity is defined by the nature of the finite-size thermodynamic transition exhibited upon folding: two-state transitions show a free energy barrier between the folded and unfolded ensembles, while downhill folding is…
Biological membranes are elastic media in which the presence of a transmembrane protein leads to local bilayer deformation. The energetics of deformation allow two membrane proteins in close proximity to influence each other's equilibrium…
Chirality is probably the most mysterious among all symmetry transformations. Very readily broken in biological systems, it is practically absent in naturally occurring inorganic materials and is very challenging to create artificially.…
Novel numerical techniques, validated by an analysis of barnase and chymotrypsin inhibitor, are used to elucidate the paramount role played by the geometry of the protein backbone in steering the folding to the correct native state. It is…
In the presence of ATP, molecular motors generate active force dipoles that drive suspensions of protein filaments far from thermodynamic equilibrium, leading to exotic dynamics and pattern formation. Microscopic modelling can help to…
In nature, microorganisms must often cope with hostile environmental conditions. To do so they have developed sophisticated cooperative behavior and intricate communication capabilities, such as: direct cell-cell physical interactions via…
Membrane-mediated particle interactions depend both on the properties of the particles themselves and the membrane environment in which they are suspended. Experiments have shown that chiral rod-like inclusions dissolved in a colloidal…
The mechanical properties of biological tissues are strongly correlated to the specific distribution of their collagen fibers. Monitoring the dynamic reorganization of the collagen network during mechanical stretching is however a technical…