MBI PhD Oral Defense

Time: 2pm
Date: Tuesday, 15 October 2019
Venue: T-Lab Building, Level 5 Seminar Rooms

Supervisor: Prof Low Boon Chuan

Co-supervisor: Prof Tan Choon Ee

Mechanics Of Cell Shape Deformation In Cytokinesis And Cell Extrusion

by Lin Bocheng Lester, Low Boon Chuan’s Group

Cytokinesis and cell extrusion are essential cellular events that determine tissue homeostasis, and both undergo drastic cell shape deformations associated with contractions of actomyosin cortex. However, the physical mechanism of how contractile activity coordinates directional cell deformations during cytokinesis and cell extrusion is still unclear. Here, I designed 3-dimensional vertex models to investigate how actomyosin cortex contractility generates tensile stresses on cell surfaces that drive cell shape deformations observed during cytokinesis and cell extrusions. The in silico cell surface was discretised into geometric elements that modeled the physical properties of the local actomyosin material, and net forces acting on each surface element were calculated to determine the temporal dynamics of cell shape deformation. Simulations revealed biophysical conditions that closely match with the qualitative appearances of reported cell deformations observed. This work seeks to promote the advantages of computational modelling to understand cell mechanobiology events.

**Please note the examination following the seminar is closed-door**