Physics Commons^™

Use Of Optical Tweezers To Probe Epithelial Mechanosensation, Andrew Resnick

Physics Faculty Publications

Cellular mechanosensation mechanisms have been implicated in a variety of disease states. Specifically in renal tubules, the primary cilium and associated mechanosensitive ion channels are hypothesized to play a role in water and salt homeostasis, with relevant disease states including polycystic kidney disease and hypertension. Previous experiments investigating ciliary-mediated cellular mechanosensation have used either fluid flow chambers or micropipetting to elicit a biological response. The interpretation of these experiments in terms of the "ciliary hypothesis" has been difficult due the spatially distributed nature of the mechanical disturbance-several competing hypotheses regarding possible roles of primary cilium, glycocalyx, microvilli, cell junctions, and …