BME Seminar Series: Jan Lammerding, Cornell University

Squish and Squeeze – Nuclear Mechanics in Physiology and Disease

Abstract: The nucleus is the characteristic feature of eukaryotic cells and houses the genomic information of the cell. The Lammerding Laboratory is investigating how physical forces acting on the nucleus can challenge the integrity of the nucleus, alter its structure and cause genomic, transcriptomic and other functional changes. I will present recent findings that demonstrate the importance of nuclear mechanobiology during cell migration in confined environments, including the impact on genomic integrity and chromatin organization. In addition, I will discuss our findings that highlight the importance of the nuclear envelope proteins lamins A/C in mediating nuclear stability and mechanotransduction in mechanically stressed cells and tissues, and how lamin mutations result in reduced nuclear stability and increased nuclear damage in striated muscle cells, which may explain the tissue-specific defects in diseases caused by lamin mutations. Insights gained from these studies could improve prognostic approaches and motivate novel therapeutic approaches for these diseases.

Bio: Jan Lammerding received his Diplom Ingenieur degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Technology in Aachen, Germany, and completed his Ph.D. in biological engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology studying subcellular biomechanics and mechanotransduction. Lammerding served as a faculty member at Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women’s Hospital before moving to Cornell University in 2011, where he is currently an associate professor and the director of graduate studies in the Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering and the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology at Cornell University.