How Structural Imbalance Drives Inflammatory Signaling in Senescent Cells
In a study published in Molecular Biology of the Cell led by Celestine Ho at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS, researchers discover that HIF-1α-activation in SASP is a defining feature of the SASP induced by diverse stressors, acting independently of micronuclei generation and cGAS/STING activation.
Chin Sze Khen
Research Assistant, Yu Group
MBI Hosts Students from Sakura High School!
MBI hosted students from Sakura High School, Chiba, Japan on 22nd January 2026 for an outreach session designed to spark curiosity about mechanobiology and research careers.
Seeking Research Assistant in the Young Laboratory, Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
The Mechanobiology Institute, NUS seeks to recruit a Research Assistant to join us in the research group of Asst. Prof. Jennifer Young.
Le Shimin
Principal Investigator
Research Interests
Molecular Mechanisms of Mechanobiology
My current research has been focused on the molecular mechanics of cell mechanotransduction studied at a single-molecule level, which forms the foundation to understand the cell migration, tissue formation and maintenance, and the mechanobiology-associated translational biomedical applications.
- Single-molecule mechanobiology and biophysics at cell-ECM adhesion and cell-cell junctions;
- Single-molecule mechanobiology and biophysics at nuclear-cytoskeletal linkages and cell cytoskeleton;
- Biophysical studies of gene regulations, DNA replication and repairs by various single-DNA manipulation assays.
Recent Publications
- Ball NJ, Turkki P, Guo Y, Tanvir MH, Le S, Chin JFL, Baker KB, Luo J, Atherton P, Brown NH, Hytönen VP, Yan J, and Goult BT. An aggregation-prone region in talin controls talin self-interactions and regulates integrin adhesion complex dynamics. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2026; 123(45):e2602326123. [PMID: 42981030]
- Wang Y, Zhang Y, Yu M, Xiu P, Jia Y, Chen H, Le S, Qian J, and Yan J. Salt-bridge mediated cooperativity and mechanical stabilization of tandem spectrin repeats. Nanoscale Horiz 2025;. [PMID: 40492359]
- Le S, Yu M, Fu C, Heier JA, Martin S, Hardin J, and Yan J. Single-molecule force spectroscopy reveals intra- and intermolecular interactions of Caenorhabditis elegans HMP-1 during mechanotransduction. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121(37):e2400654121. [PMID: 39236238]
- Zhang Y, Du J, Liu X, Shang F, Deng Y, Ye J, Wang Y, Yan J, Chen H, Yu M, and Le S. Multi-domain interaction mediated strength-building in human α-actinin dimers unveiled by direct single-molecule quantification. Nat Commun 2024; 15(1):6151. [PMID: 39034324]
- Sun Y, Liu X, Huang W, Le S, and Yan J. Structural domain in the Titin N2B-us region binds to FHL2 in a force-activation dependent manner. Nat Commun 2024; 15(1):4496. [PMID: 38802383]
- Huang W, Liu J, Le S, Yao M, Shi Y, and Yan J. In situ single-molecule investigations of the impacts of biochemical perturbations on conformational intermediates of monomeric α-synuclein. APL Bioeng 2024; 8(1):016114. [PMID: 38435467]
- Zhou Y, Zhao X, Jiang Y, Lin DJ, Lu C, Wang Y, Le S, Li R, and Yan J. A Mechanical Assay for the Quantification of Anti-RBD IgG Levels in Finger-Prick Whole Blood. ACS Sens 2023;. [PMID: 37582229]
- Liu J, Le S, Yao M, Huang W, Tio Z, Zhou Y, and Yan J. Tension Gauge Tethers as Tension Threshold and Duration Sensors. ACS Sens 2023;. [PMID: 36731861]
- Huang W, Le S, Sun Y, Lin DJ, Yao M, Shi Y, and Yan J. Mechanical Stabilization of a Bacterial Adhesion Complex. J Am Chem Soc 2022;. [PMID: 36070862]
- Wang Y, Yao M, Baker KB, Gough RE, Le S, Goult BT, and Yan J. Force-Dependent Interactions between Talin and Full-Length Vinculin. J Am Chem Soc 2021;. [PMID: 34463480]
Full Publication List
