Quantitative Micro-Elastography: New Imaging Tool Uncovers Age-Dependent Mechanical Changes in Ovarian Tissue
Researchers from the Chan Lab at MBI develop a a novel method called quantitative micro-elastography to create detailed 3D maps of ovarian stiffness in mice—revealing crucial insights that could lead to new infertility treatments.
Jie Zhang
Research Fellow, Lim Group
Sui Mingyu
Research Fellow, Yan Jie Group
MBI-MPG Conference 2025: Mechanobiology in Space and Time
The MBI-MPG Conference 2025 was held from 9-12th September at the Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore.
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
