Mammalian cells are subjected to a wide variety of shearing, stretching, and deforming forces during their growth in large scale bioreactors, artificial tissue structures, and in native tissue structures. Mechanical forces can deform cellular structures, causing generation of intracellular messengers, alterations to metabolism, and cell-cycle transition. The goal of this project is to quantify the extent and regulation of cellular function by physical deformation of membrane/cytoplasm structures.
