Hassan P. Modarres^∗, Mohammad R. K. Mofrad^†

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.11, No.1, pp. 39-65, 2014, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2014.011.039

Abstract Focal adhesions are the immediate sites of the cell’s adhesive interaction with the extracellular matrix and as such play a key role in mechanosensing and mechanotransduction at the edge of the cell interface with its surrounding microenvironment. A multitude of proteins orchestrate this mechanochemical communication process between the cell and its outside world. Filamin is a member of focal adhesion protein machinery that also plays a key role in regulating and bundling the acting filament network. A brief review is presented here on filamin and its important protein partners with the aim to shed light on the role of filamin’s… More >

Norizadeh Abbariki Tannaz^*,†, Shokrgozar Mohammad Ali^†,‡, Haghighipour Nooshin^*,§, Aghdami Nasser^¶, Mahdian Rezak^II, Amanzadeh Amir^*, Jazayeri Maryam^*,†

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.11, No.1, pp. 19-37, 2014, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2014.011.019

Abstract Background: Environmental factors affect stem cell differentiation. In addition to chemical factors, mechanical signals have been suggested to enhance myogenic differentiation of stem cells. Therefore, this study was undertaken to illustrate and compare the effect of chemical and mechanical stimuli on Myogenin (MyoG) and Myosin heavy chani 2 (Myh2) expression of mouse bone marrowderived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Methods: After isolation and expansion of BMSCs and generation of embryoid bodies and spontaneous differentiation of ESCs, cells were examined in 4 groups: (1) control group: untreated cells; (2) chemical group: cells incubated in myogenic medium (5-azacythidine… More >

JA. Herzog^∗, TR. Leonard^†, A. Jinha^†, W. Herzog^†,‡

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.11, No.1, pp. 1-17, 2014, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2014.011.001

Abstract Titin is the third most abundant protein in sarcomeres and fulfills a number of mechanical and signaling functions. Specifically, titin is responsible for most of the passive forces in sarcomeres and the passive visco-elastic behaviour of myofibrils and muscles. It has been suggested, based on mechanical testing of isolated titin molecules, that titin is an essentially elastic spring if Ig domain un/refolding is prevented either by working at short titin lengths, prior to any unfolding of Ig domains, or at long sarcomere (and titin) lengths when Ig domain un/refolding is effectively prevented. However, these properties of titin, and by extension… More >

G. Geethanjali^∗, C. Sujatha^†

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.10, No.4, pp. 303-317, 2013, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2013.010.303

Abstract This paper reports a study on the biomechanical response of a human hand-arm model to random vibrations of the steering wheel of a tractor. An anatomically accurate bone-only hand-arm model from TurboSquidTM was used to obtain a finite element (FE) model to understand the Hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS), which is a neurological and vascular disorder caused by exposure of the human hand-arm to prolonged vibrations. Modal analysis has been done to find out the first few natural frequencies and mode shapes of the system. Coupling of degrees of freedom (DOF) had to be done in the FE idealization to do… More >

R. V. Uddanwadiker^*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.10, No.4, pp. 289-302, 2013, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2013.010.289

Abstract The aim of the study is to find most optimum combination of crown material and adhesive to avoid loosening and thereby failure of restored tooth. This study describes the Thermo-Mechanical analysis of restored molar tooth crown for determination of the stress levels due to thermal and mechanical loads on restored molar tooth. The potential use of the 3-D model was demonstrated and analyzed using different materials for crown. Thermal strain, stress and deformation were measured at hot and cold conditions in ANSYS and correlated with analytical calculation and existing experimental data for model validation and optimization. It is concluded that… More >

Annette Doyle^*, Steven R. Crosby^†, David R. Burton^*, Francis Lilley^*, Gary Johnston^*, Winder B. Perez^‡, Terri G. Kinzy^‡, Mark F. Murphy^*,†,§

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.10, No.4, pp. 275-288, 2013, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2013.010.275

Abstract Many diseases including cancer are associated with a disorganised cytoskeleton. The process of characterising how cytoskeletal disorganisation affects the mechanical properties of cells offers the potential to develop new drugs and treatment regimes that may exploit mechanical weakness in cells and tissues. This work investigated the role of actin associated proteins, namely tropomyosin 1 (tpm1p) and mitochondrial distribution and morphology protein 20 (mdm20p), on the mechanical and morphological properties of yeast cells. For the first time it was shown that deletion of both the TPM1 and MDM20 genes resulted in a decrease in Young’s modulus when compared to the wild-type… More >

Syed A Jamal^*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.10, No.4, pp. 267-273, 2013, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2013.010.267

Abstract Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hUCMSCs) were subjected to in vitro osteogenic differentiation using a novel combination of signaling molecules including BMP-2 and purmorphamine. Differentiation outcomes were assessed by calcein staining and by microscopic examination of the cytoskeleton. Calcein staining showed appreciable degree of calcium mineralization in cell culture, and changes in the morphological attributes of differentiating cells were observed vis-a-vis the actin cytoskeleton. Finally, positive calcein staining, altered cytoskeletal profile, and stress fiber formation in treated cells demonstrated, for the first time, a potentially synergistic interplay between BMP-2 and the hedgehog agonist, purmorphamine. This study lends support to… More >

WJ Richardson^∗, DD van der Voort^∗, E Wilson^†, JE Moore Jr.^∗,‡

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.10, No.3, pp. 245-265, 2013, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2013.010.245

Abstract Non-uniform stress and strain fields are prevalent in many tissues in vivo, and often exacerbated by disease or injury. These mechanical gradients potentially play a role in contributing to pathological conditions, presenting a need for experimental tools to allow investigation of cell behavior within non-uniformly stimulated environments. Herein, we employ two in vitro cell-stretching devices (one previously published; one newly presented) capable of subjecting cells to cyclic, non-uniform stretches upon the surface of either a circular elastomeric membrane or a cylindrical PDMS tube. After 24 hours of cyclic stretch, 10T1/2 cells on both devices showed marked changes in long-axis orientation,… More >

B. Mochnacki^*, Alicja Piasecka Belkhayat^†

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.10, No.3, pp. 233-244, 2013, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2013.010.233

Abstract Numerical analysis of heat transfer processes proceeding in a nonhomogeneous biological tissue domain is presented. In particular, the skin tissue domain subjected to an external heat source is considered. The problem is treated as an axially-symmetrical one (it results from the mathematical form of the function describing the external heat source). Thermophysical parameters of sub-domains (volumetric specific heat, thermal conductivity, perfusion coefficient etc.) are given as interval numbers. The problem discussed is solved using the interval finite difference method basing on the rules of directed interval arithmetic, this means that at the stage of FDM algorithm construction the mathematical manipulations… More >

Ewa Majchrzak^*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.10, No.3, pp. 201-232, 2013, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2013.010.201

Abstract Heat transfer processes proceeding in the living organisms are described by the different mathematical models. In particular, the typical continuous model of bioheat transfer bases on the most popular Pennes equation, but the Cattaneo-Vernotte equation and the dual phase lag equation are also used. It should be pointed out that in parallel are also examined the vascular models, and then for the large blood vessels and tissue domain the energy equations are formulated separately. In the paper the different variants of the boundary element method as a tool of numerical solution of bioheat transfer problems are discussed. For the steady… More >