Benoit LADOUX
Visiting Faculty, Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore, Research Director, Université Paris Diderot & Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Laboratory website
Cell Adhesion and Mechanics Lab
Research Program
Mechanotransduction in Tissues Group
Affiliations
Research Director, Université Paris Diderot & Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
LYU Min
PhD Student, Class of August 2025, Lim Group
HOANG Mai Thanh Truc
PhD Student, Class of August 2025, Yu Group
Hannah Abilaguyo YUSON
PhD Student, Class of August 2025, Holle Group
Diya NARANG
PhD Student, Class of August 2025, Michelot Group
QUAN Cheng
PhD Student, Class of August 2025, Li Group
CHEAM Mei Shan
PhD Student, Class of August 2025, Toyama Group
Benoit Ladoux
Visiting Faculty
Research Areas
Epithelial cell migration; microfabrication for cell mechanics; influence of the mechanical environments on cell functions; mechanotransduction
Research Interests
Our research aims at understanding how living organisms interact with their environment. In particular, we are studying the cooperation between adhesion, biomechanical and biochemical signaling for the adaptation of living organisms to changes in their environment. To probe these questions, our laboratory has developed a repertoire of micro- and nano-fabrication tools to control and measure the chemical and mechanical environment of cells. Our research programme thus focuses on the integration of novel microfabricated devices for the quantitative imaging of living organisms.
Biography
With a background in Physics, Prof Ladoux started his career at Curie Institute working on single molecule biophysics. He worked on two main problems combining statistical physics, microfabrication and molecular biology: 1) chromatin condensation in real time; 2) fluctuations of a single polymer under shear flows. After a post-doc on cell mechanics, he used his knowledge in biophysics and microfabrication to start a new subject on mechanical studies of cell migration and adhesion at the University Paris Diderot. He developed microsystems to characterise the mechanical interactions of cells with their migration support. He is currently working on rigidity sensing, collective cell migration and tissue homeostasis.
Recent Publications
- Shiratsuchi N, Fujita Y, Simon de Beco , Daubech C, Ladoux B, Grata A, Levayer R, Magny E, O'Brien LE, Priya R, Mitchell SJ, Rosenblatt J, Rupprecht J, Stockmann L, Sedzinski J, Roquin L, Suzanne M, Toyama Y, Matekcic M, Trepat X, Vinzens S, Wickström SA, Lwin AKO, and Yap AS. Meeting report - CellExIt#1, the first international symposium on cell extrusion. J Cell Sci 2026; 139(14). [PMID: 42504880]
- Balasubramaniam L, Monfared S, Ardaševa A, Rosse C, Schoenit A, Dang T, Maric C, Hautefeuille M, Kocgozlu L, Chilupuri R, Dubey S, Marangoni E, L Doss B, Chavrier P, Mège R, Doostmohammadi A, and Ladoux B. Dynamic forces shape the survival fate of eliminated cells. Nat Phys 2025;. [PMID: 40636322]
- Kawaue T, Yow I, Pan Y, Le AP, Lou Y, Loberas M, Shagirov M, Teng X, Prost J, Hiraiwa T, Ladoux B, and Toyama Y. Inhomogeneous mechanotransduction defines the spatial pattern of apoptosis-induced compensatory proliferation. Dev Cell 2023;. [PMID: 36800994]
- Sonam S, Balasubramaniam L, Lin S, Ivan YMY, Jaumà IP, Jebane C, Karnat M, Toyama Y, Marcq P, Prost J, Mège R, Rupprecht J, and Ladoux B. Mechanical stress driven by rigidity sensing governs epithelial stability. Nat Phys 2022; 19:132-141. [PMID: 36686215]
- Rose N, Estrada Chavez B, Sonam S, Nguyen T, Grenci G, Bigot A, Muchir A, Ladoux B, Cadot B, Le Grand F, and Trichet L. Bioengineering a miniaturized in vitro 3D myotube contraction monitoring chip to model muscular dystrophies. Biomaterials 2022; 293:121935. [PMID: 36584444]
- . https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36103541
- Yang Y, Nguyen E, Sankara Narayana GHN, Heuzé M, Fu C, Yu H, Mège R, Ladoux B, and Sheetz MP. Local contractions regulate E-cadherin rigidity sensing. Sci Adv 2022; 8(4):eabk0387. [PMID: 35089785]
- . https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33850145
- Latorre E, Kale S, Casares L, Gómez-González M, Uroz M, Valon L, Nair RV, Garreta E, Montserrat N, Del Campo A, Ladoux B, Arroyo M, and Trepat X. Addendum: Active superelasticity in three-dimensional epithelia of controlled shape. Nature 2021;. [PMID: 33846613]
- Balasubramaniam L, Doostmohammadi A, Saw TB, Narayana GHNS, Mueller R, Dang T, Thomas M, Gupta S, Sonam S, Yap AS, Toyama Y, Mège R, Yeomans JM, and Ladoux B. Author Correction: Investigating the nature of active forces in tissues reveals how contractile cells can form extensile monolayers. Nat Mater 2021;. [PMID: 33750921]
Lab Members
How does Arp2/3-mediate the nucleation of branched filaments?
How does Arp2/3-mediate the nucleation of branched filaments? The Arp2/3 complex is composed of 7 evolutionarily conserved subunits (Arp2, Arp3, ARPC1-C5) that are structurally similar to the barbed end of actin [1]. The complex [...]
What factors influence actin filament length and treadmilling?
What factors influence actin filament length and treadmilling? Several factors influence actin filament length and treadmilling. ATP binding on G-actin and free ATP-G-actin concentration ATP-binding on actin subunits modulates the dynamics of filament assembly, [...]
What is the role of cortactin in actin polymerization?
What is the role of cortactin in actin polymerization? Cortactin is a class II nucleation promoting factor (NPF) that binds to actin filaments and influences their stability. Cortactin specifically stabilizes Arp2/3-mediated branch points along [...]
What is the role of formin in actin polymerization?
What is the role of formin in actin polymerization? Formins promote the elongation of pre-existing filaments by removing barbed end capping proteins and forming a sleeve around the actin subunits. Formins are also capable [...]
What is the steady state phase of actin polymerization?
What is the steady state phase of actin polymerization? In the steady state phase, the filament dynamics enter a state of equilibrium where monomer disassembly from the (-) end and polymerization at the (+) [...]
What factors regulate actin filament polymerization?
What factors regulate actin filament polymerization? Nucleation Promoting Factors (NPFs) (e.g. WASP, Scar/WAVE) modulate actin filament nucleation by bringing together actin monomers and pre-existing actin filaments, for example, during filopodial initiation where they recruit [...]
Actin Crosslinking
Actin Crosslinking Crosslinking of actin filaments is a critical step in cell motility and is a fundamental process in filopodia protrusion and lamellipodia formation. Smaller cross-linking proteins that are more globular (e.g. fascin) [...]
What are microtubules?
What are microtubules? Microtubules are hollow cylinders [1] that are approximately 25nm in diameter [2] and vary in length from 200 nm to 25 μm. They are formed by the lateral association of between [...]
What is capping protein?
What is capping protein? Capping protein is involved in actin filament assembly and disassembly Capping proteins control access to the free barbed ends of actin filaments and is therefore a major factor affecting actin [...]
I-BAR and Other Proteins/Factors
I-BAR and Other Proteins/Factors Proteins containing I-BAR (inverted Bin/amphiphysin/Rvs i.e. IRSp53 Missing-in-metastasis homology Domain or IMD) cooperate with various components of actin filament assembly, to promote filopodia protrusion, via several mechanisms including the stimulation [...]
Fimbrin
Fimbrin Fimbrin (aka plastin homologue, accumentin) is an actin binding protein that was originally identified in microvilli [1][2]. This schematic diagram illustrates the molecular organization of fimbrin as depicted in this resource, and [...]
Filamin
Filamin The filamin family of proteins bind to both actin and a number of signaling molecules including Rho GTPases. Evidence for this was shown with the loss of Filamin-A in M2 Melanoma cells, which [...]
