Analyzing Cell Behaviour: From Mitotic Cell Shape to Intracellular Delivery
Dr. Martin P. Stewart
School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney

About the Speaker
Martin Stewart obtained his Ph.D. from the Max Planck Institute and TU Dresden Germany in 2012. His Ph.D. examined the mechanisms of cell shape in mitosis. From 2014-2018 Martin worked in the laboratories of Professors Klavs Jensen and Robert Langer at MIT, where he conducted mechanistic studies to improve intracellular delivery technologies.  

Talk Information
This talk will cover two aspects of cell mechanobiology: recent insights into the mechanics of mitotic rounding, and the use of cell deformations and electric fields for intracellular delivery.
1) We developed an atomic force microscope (AFM)-based approach to analyze the forces generated by cells as they round up during mitosis. We found that cells under mechanical challenge undergo cell cortex herniation and inhibition of mitotic progression when a critical force is reached. We also implemented an RNAi-based mechanical phenotyping approach to elucidate uncharacterized genes that govern cell mechanics in mitosis.
2) Membrane disruption-based methods have emerged as key strategies for rapid, direct and universal delivery of a wide range of cargoes into cells. We implemented a microfluidic approach for combining mechanical deformation and electric fields for direct delivery of DNA into the nucleus at high-throughput. We find that this treatment is able to mediate rapid expression of DNA via means of reversible non-lethal disruptions to the plasma membrane and nuclear envelope.  

Time: 15:30-16:30, December 26, 2018
Location: Conference Room 103, Office Building
All are welcome！