Measuring stress transduction and the dynamics of cell division

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. In addition, I will discuss measurements of the precise motions arising from forces involved in chromosome segregation in living budding yeast cells. I investigate different force generators on the mitotic spindle, a dynamic network of cytoskeletal filaments that organize and separate the cell’s chromosomes. These force generators impact key aspects of the cell cycle progression. These projects use combined approaches of quantitative fluorescence microscopy, novel image analysis tools, microfluidics, and genetic perturbation.