ZBP-Kolloquium

Dr. Stephanie Möllmert (Max-Planck-Zentrum für Physik und Medizin, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Erlangen)
Title: From Neural Tissue to the Reproductive Tract: Quantitative Mechanics Across Living System
Time: 14:15 (refreshments at 14:00)
Location: Campus SB, Building C6 4, room 0.09 (Hörsaal II), Click here to join via Teams
Host: Prof. Franziska Lautenschläger

Abstract: Mechanical forces are integral to tissue physiology: cells sense and generate forces, and tissue material state evolves during development, regeneration, and disease. Yet quantitative measurements of viscoelasticity in intact, living tissues remain scarce because these systems are heterogeneous, actively remodeling, and difficult to probe without perturbation. In this colloquium, I will present our strategy to quantify tissue mechanics across scales by combining atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based indentation, Brillouin microscopy, and histological readouts that anchor mechanical parameters to composition and structure. I will begin with nervous tissue mechanics, drawing on studies of developing, injured, and regenerating spinal cord as well as layered neural tissues. In the second part, I will extend these concepts to reproductive mechanics, focusing on the murine oviduct as a confined, cyclically active environment that supports fertilization and early embryo transport. I will present first segment- and cycle-resolved measurements that constrain physiological mechanical parameter ranges compatible with transport, show how these ranges shift in aberrant conditions, and discuss how quantitative mechanics can inform mechanistic models and more faithful ex vivo reproductive platforms.

If you are interested in an individual meeting with the speaker, please contact the respective host or Philipp Hövel (philipp.hoevel@uni-saarland.de).