Events

Cells must not only generate forces to move and divide, but they must also be able to react to forces in their environment. This conversion of physical forces into biological responses is known as mechanotransduction. I will describe measurements of the response of living Escherichia coli bacteria to osmotic stress as a model for mechanotransduction, and of the mechanical properties of a cytoskeleton system reconstituted from purified components as a model for the behavior of cells.