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Mechanobiology Lab | Grass Center for Bioengineering
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Mechanobiology Lab

Buxboim_Lab2

Dr. Amnon Buxboim

We are interested in how the interactions between cells and their physical environment direct cell-fate decision making. The biological systems that we study are (by increasing length scale and complexity):

  • The Cell Nucleus – where genes are regulated

  • Stem Cell Differentiation and Epigenetic Reprogramming

  • Pre-Implantation Embryogenic Development

  • Muscle functions in Myotonic Dystrophy

We design state-of-the-art experimental systems to control 2D/3D matrix elasticity, applied stretch and contraction forces, and pressure to mimic the physiological stimuli that cells are subjected to. Our lab is highly interdisciplinary and integrates Cell & Molecular Biology with Physics, Bioengineering and Computer Science. 

 

 

Members

Selected Publications

  • Dingal, P.C.D.P., Bradshaw, A.M., Cho, S., Raab, M, Buxboim, A., Swift, J & Discher, D.E. Fractal heterogeneity in minimal matrix models of scars modulates stiff-niche stem-cell responses via nuclear exit of a mechanorepressor. Nature Materials (Online 13 July 2015)
  • Buxboim, A.,* Swift, J.,* Irianto, J., Spinler, K.R., Dingal, P.C.D.P., Athirasala, A., Kao, Y.R., Cho, S., Harada, T., Shin, J.W. & Discher, D.E. Matrix elasticity regulates lamin-a,c phosphorylation and turnover with feedback to actomyosin. Current Biology 16, 1909-17 (2014).
  • Shin, J.W., Buxboim, A., Spinler, K.R., Swift, J., Christian, D.A., Hunter, C.A., Leon, C., Gachet, C., Dingal, P.C.D.P., Ivanovska, I.L., Rehfeldt, F., Chasis, J.A. & Discher, D.E. Contractile Forces Sustain and Polarize Hematopoiesis from Stem and Progenitor Cells. Cell Stem Cell 14, 81-93 (2014).
  • Swift, J.,* Ivanovska, I.L.,* Buxboim, A., Harada, T., Dingal, P.C.D.P., Pinter, J., Pajerowski, J.D., Spinler, K.R., Shin, J.W., Tewari, M., Rehfeldt, F., Speicher, D.W. & Discher, D.E. Nuclear Lamin-A Scales with Tissue Stiffness and Enhances Matrix-Directed Differentiation. Science 341 (2013).
  • Swift, J., Harada, T., Buxboim, A., Shin, J.W., Tang, H.Y., Speicher, D.W. & Discher, D.E. Label-free mass spectrometry exploits dozens of detected peptides to quantify lamins in wildtype and knockdown cells. Nucleus-Austin 4, 450-459 (2013).