Le et al. show that in Xenopus embryos, local ectodermal tissue flows provide a directional cue that polarizes and guides embryonic myeloid cells migration via cell-on-cell interactions.

Vocal fold cancer tumours lose some of their malignant traits when mechanically stimulated by physiological stretch or vibrations, mimicking the opening and closing of vocal folds and phonation.

Excess area of the nuclear lamina, observed as wrinkles in a round nucleus, enables cell migration through constricting channels.

Tumour development and progression are associated with biophysical alterations that manifest across multiple spatial scales, from the subcellular to multicellular tissue scale. While cells can dynamic...

Inside each of your cells, there’s a microscopic scaffolding that helps determine what the cell looks like, how it moves, and how it responds to its surroundings. This internal structure, called the c...

Highlighted Article: A bioinert confinement system enables dissection of how stiffness and timing shape gastruloid development, revealing uncoupling between polarization and transcriptional programs.

Nature - Genetic manipulation of blastoids reveals the role of recently emerged transposable elements and genes in human development.

Inge et al. show that human endoderm originates from two converging developmental routes with distinct dynamics and efficiencies yet similar developmental potential. Combinatorial activin and BMP4 sig...

Epithelial tissues cover the inner and outer surfaces of the body. A study by the working group of cell biologist Prof. Carsten Grashoff now provides insight into the molecular details underlying the ...

Epithelial tissues line the surfaces of vital organs and are often densely packed in a disordered, mechanically arrested state, referred to as jammed or glassy state. While collective migration at low...

Cell extrusion is essential for homeostatic self-renewal of the intestinal epithelium. Extrusion is thought to be triggered by crowding-induced compression of cells at the intestinal villus tip. In th...

Cells often navigate through confined spaces. Now it is shown that cells retain a mechanical memory of previous confinement events, which makes them more efficient at migrating through narrow microenv...

Nature Protocols, Published online: 30 May 2025; doi:10.1038/s41596-025-01159-3Methods to use polyisocyanide as a model matrix for 3D cell culture. Polyisocyanide gels closely mimic the physical properties of biogels such as collagen and fibrin and, as fully synthetic materials, benefit from reproducibility and customizability.

Mechanical forces are fundamental to the formation of normal biological tissues and the maintenance of physiological health. These forces are transmitted from t

It is difficult to fathom why anyone intelligent enough to be a scientist would actually choose to be one. Doing good science requires the utmost exertion of body, mind and spirit, yet is consistently...

Circulating monocytes are recruited to the tumor microenvironment, where they can differentiate into macrophages that mediate tumor progression. To...

Cell migration is critical for tissue development and regeneration but requires extracellular enviro

Mechanical forces play a critical role in regulating cancer cell behavior. Here, Li et al. report a 3D hydrogel platform embedded with near-infrared responsive macromolecular actuators for precise mec...