Mini-Workshop: Mechanics of Cell Motion

Abstract

This mini-workshop brought together established researchers and newer entrants in the field of cell motility, a challenging research area located at the crossroads of biology, mathematics and physics. Cell locomotion occurs through complex interactions that involve, among others, actin polymerization, matrix degradation, chemical signaling, adhesion and pulling on the substrate and fibers. In recent years the spatial resolution of experiments at a cellular and sub-cellular level have revealed a landscape of unexpected behaviors that demand for the application of physics and classical mathematical methods to reveal the principles that are at the basis of cell motion in terms of adhesion, directionality, internal engines. The focus of the mini-workshop was on the fundamental research in mathematical methods for biophysics of the cell, especially on the mathematical framework for the mechanics of the actin network, the encadrement of cellular traction as an inverse problem and the relation between cell-to-cell communication and morphogenesis.