Elisabeth Fischer-Friedrich Group

Our Research Mission

Our group is mainly interested in the following questions

• How does mechanical stress modify material properties of living matter, and how is this exploited for biological function?
• How does mechanical stress impact on the growth of cells and tissues?

Current research foci in my lab are

1. Measurement of the mechanical properties of the actin cell cortex of live cells
2. The influence of cell mechanics on mitotic rounding and cell division in cancer cells
3. The effect of mechanical tension on the binding dynamics of actin-associated proteins
4. Study of mechanical stresses in tissue development

We combine experimental and theoretical work.

Our method set includes

• Atomic force microscopy and optical tweezer
• Cell culture and basic related biochemical methods
• Optical microscopy
• Continuum mechanics and concepts of viscoelasticity
• Theory of dynamical systems and Mathematical modelling