Cell and Tissue Mechanics

This course develops and applies scaling approaches and simplified models to biomechanical phenomena at molecular, cellular, and tissue level.

Topics include:

Molecular forces; Viscous drag; Brownian motion; Diffusion; Polymer mechanics;
Polymer dynamics; Molecular motors; Cytoskeleton; Viscoelasticity; Membrane;
Cell migration; Cell adhesion; Mechanobiology; Mechanotransduction;
Elastic, viscoelastic, and poroelastic behavior of tissues; Cell-matrix interaction

Student Learning Outcomes:

The student who successfully completes this course will be able to:
1) analytically solve basic biomechanics problems or estimate their approximate solutions
2) utilize gained knowledge to interpret experimental results related to biomechanics and characterize them in the form of equations
3) develop computational models for biological systems or design experiments

Pre-requisites

This course is recommended for undergraduate students who have taken introductory courses related to differential equations (MA 261 or 262) and molecular cell biology (BIOL 230).

Text Recommended:

1) C.R. Jacobs, H. Huang, R.Y. Kwon, Introduction to Cell Mechanics and Mechanobiology, 2012
2) D. Boal, Mechanics of the Cell, 2001.
3) J.D. Humphrey and S.L. O’Rourke, An Introduction to Biomechanics, 2015.