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Virginia Aragon Sanabria¹, Cheng Dong^*
Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.15, No.1, pp. 1-19, 2018, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2018.015.001
Abstract Endothelial barrier function is critical for tissue homeostasis throughout the body. Disruption of the endothelial monolayer leads to edema, vascular diseases and even cancer metastasis among other pathological conditions. Breakdown of the endothelial barrier integrity triggered by cytokines (e.g.IL-8,IL-1β) and growth factors (e.g.VEGF) is well documented. However, endothelial cells are subject to major biomechanical forces that affect their behavior. Due to their unique location at the interface between circulating blood and surrounding tissues, endothelial cells experience shear stress, strain and contraction forces. More than three decades ago, it was already appreciated that shear flow caused More >

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ARTICLE

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.15, No.1, pp. 21-36, 2018, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2018.015.021
Abstract Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most potent professional antigen presenting cells as now known, which play critical roles in the initiation, programming and regulation of the immune response. Transforming growth factor-β₁ (TGF-β₁), one of the major suppressive cytokines in tumor microenvironment, can deteriorate the biomechanical characteristics and motility of mature dendritic cells (mDCs)，but the underlying molecular mechanisms are not well defined. In this study, the effects of TGF-β₁ on the motilities and T cell priming capabilities of mDCs as well as the molecular regulatory mechanisms were investigated. The results showed that the cytoskeleton (F-actin) organizations of mDCs More >

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Jiangguo Lin¹, Botao Xiao^1,2, Quhuan Li¹, Ying Fang¹, Jianhua Wu^1,*
Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.15, No.1, pp. 37-49, 2018, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2018.015.037
Abstract The protein structure-function paradigm implies that the structure of a protein defines its function. Crystallization techniques such as X-ray, electron microscopy (EM) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) have been applied to resolve the crystal structure of numerous proteins, provided beautiful and informative models of proteins. However, proteins are not intrinsically in static state but in dynamic state, which is lack in crystal models. The protein flexibility, a key mechanical property of proteins, plays important roles in various biological processes, such as ligand-receptor interaction, signaling transduction, substrate recognition and post-translational modifications. Advanced time-resolved crystallography has been More >

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Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.15, No.1, pp. 51-61, 2018, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2018.015.051
Abstract Tracheal stenosis is a common respiratory disease and is usually treated by stent implantation. However, the implanted stent often causes excessive hyperplasia of trachea granulation tissue, leading to the restenosis. Although surgical removal or chemical suppression can be used to alleviate the restenosis, the efficacy is limited. Thus, restenosis remains a thorny complication. We investigated this issue from the perspective of the “tress-growth”relationship. Firstly, the lower airway of 5 experimental dogs were CT-scanned to reconstruct the 3D numerical models; secondly, the implantations of the Nitinol alloy stents were numerically simulated; thirdly, 45 days after the… More >

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