Biological Soft Matter

Group leader: Prof. dr. Gijsje Koenderink

The Biological Soft Matter group is an experimental research group that focuses on the soft condensed matter physics of living cells. The overall aim is to understand the physical mechanisms that govern the (active) mechanics of cells. We study in parallel two different model systems of cells.
The first approach is to reconstitute artificial cells from purified cytoskeletal proteins within cell-sized microchambers or liposomes. This approach enables us to dissect the roles of polymer physics, motor proteins, and active filament (de)polymerization.
The second approach is to reconstitute artificial tissues by growing cells inside simplified extracellular matrices. This approach enables us to study cellular mechanoresponsiveness. Key technologies are advanced microscopy and quantitative image analysis, optical tweezer manipulation, microrheology, and rheology.
We strive to learn biological design principles that can be applied to new supramolecular materials with biomimetic properties, such as the incredible strength or active nature of living cells. At the same time, we contribute a physics component to the fields of mechanobiology and tissue engineering. Read more >>

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AMOLF: cell with a cytoskeleton of stiff filaments of actin, tubulin, and intermediate filament proteins.
Cartoon of cell (green) with a cytoskeleton of stiff filaments of actin, tubulin, and intermediate filament proteins. The cytoskeleton is connected by transmembrane integrin receptors (purple) to the extracellular matrix (orange).