Research at the interface between biophotonics and mechanobiology

Welcome to our research page. Here you can explore how cells respond to physical stimuli such as membrane curvature and mechanical forces. We investigate how optical tweezers can be used to study mechanobiology, including mechanosensing and interactions at the single-molecule level. Read on to learn more about our projects and results.

Would you like to learn more about our research? Contact Poul Martin Bendix at bendix@nbi.dk to discuss potential collaborations, or read more about our Publications.

GPCR Mechanosensing

We want to understand the mechanisms underlying how cells sense and respond to mechanical forces through GPCR receptors.

Filopodia Mechanics

Filopodia are sensing antennae which exist on all cells. We have investigated the rotational and retraction dynamics of filopodia by using parallel 3D confocal imaging and optical trapping.

Curvature & Spontaneous Curvature of Membranes

By creating biologically relevant nanoscale curvatures on the cells surface we investigate how proteins bend membranes and also how they sense existing membrane curvatures.

Thermoplasmonics for Membrane Manipulation and Cell Biology

Thermoplasmonics is a new optical method which can be used for gaining and understanding a range of biological and biophysical phenomena

Annexin-Mediated Plasma-Membrane Repair and Nuclear-Envelope Damage

We have investigated how cells repair surface lesions by recruiting different types of annexins.

Thermoplasmonics is currently being used to study the repair mechanisms of nuclear membranes as well.

    Single-Molecule DNA–Protein Interactions with Optical Tweezers

    We use advanced multitrap+high resolution imaging system to explore single proteins

     

    Plant Biophysics & Label-Free Microscopy

    We use optical bio-manipulation and scattering microscopy to investigate the properties of plant cells