iMMEC Seminar with Fan Liu and Ethan Shin
Building 3, 33 MASSACHUSETTS AVE, Cambridge, MA
Speakers: Fan Liu and Ethan Shin Affiliations: Fan Liu, Postdoctoral Associate, MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering Ethan Shin, PhD Candidate, MIT Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Hosts: Andrew Akerson, Professor, MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering Mohammad Charara, Postdoctoral Fellow, MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering Lebo Molefe, Postdoctoral Fellow, MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering SPEAKER: FAN LIU Talk title: Vimentin: A Cellular Filament That Softens Cell Aggregates and Promotes Invasion Abstract: Multicellular tissues are soft, porous materials whose mechanics depend on cell organization and interstitial fluid flow. Yet how cytoskeletal structure shapes these tissue-scale properties remains unclear. This talk examines how vimentin, a filamentous component of the cellular skeleton, regulates tissue mechanics and invasion. We combine single-cell tracking, imaging-integrated compression of multicellular aggregates (spheroids), structural imaging, and matrix-displacement measurements. Vimentin-positive cells spread and migrate more extensively in collagen, while their spheroids are larger, softer, and relax forces faster than…