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)
What is Actomyosin?
What is Actomyosin? Actomyosin refers to the actin-myosin complex that forms within the cytoskeleton. Actomyosin is inherently contractile, with the myosin motor protein able to pull on actin filaments. This property gives rise to [...]
How is actomoysin contractility regulated?
How does the contractome protein network regulate actomyosin contractility? Non-muscle myosin II isoforms have a similar structure and function to their muscle equivalents. However, their interaction with actin serves to generate cellular forces rather [...]
What are Blebs?
What are Blebs? Blebs are blister-like protrusions that occur at the cell surface (reviewed in [1]). Blebs form, and function, in a series of defined steps. They typically grow to a length of around [...]
What are Contractile Fibers?
What are Contractile Fibers? Certain myosin isoforms (i.e. myosin II) form bipolar assemblies via the extended coiled-coil domains in the heavy chains (see also “thick filaments”). Actin “thin filaments” with opposite polarity associate with [...]
What are lamellipodia and lamella?
What are lamellipodia and lamella? The lamellipodia and lamella are plate-like extensions of the cell that play crucial roles in both cell motility and migration, and mechanosensing. These structures form and function over distinct [...]
How do filopodia move dynamically?
What causes filopodia retraction and collapse? Binding of filopodia to certain ligands or substratum may hinder filament assembly, thereby leading to changes that promote retraction, collapse or growth cone turning [1][2]. For example, substrate [...]
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
Talk at EMBO/EMBL Symposium on Mechanobiology in development and disease
Joe shares the latest finding on theca cell mechanosensing and their function in controlling follicle growth at the 2022 EMBO/EMBL symposium on mechanobiology in development and disease.
Modhura Ganguly
PhD Student, Class of January 2022, Toyama Group
Martin Kiwanuka
PhD Student, Class of January 2022, Young Group
A Nervous Contraction
A collaborative study from the Saunders Lab and the Martin-Blanco Lab at the Molecular Biology Institute Barcelona, Spain, demonstrates how the contraction of a Drosophila's ventral nerve cord during development is oscillatory and driven by the combined contractile efforts of individual cells. Learn more
MBI welcomes NUS High School for a Learning Journey into Mechanobiology
MBI opened its doors to the students of NUS High School of Mathematics and Science for a half-day visit around the institute.
Stefan Mueller
Research Fellow, Li Group
Hepi Hari Susapto
Research Fellow, Young Group
Choosing Sides
The Scientist magazine features the work of Prof Alexander Bershadsky and Senior Research Fellow Dr Yee Han Tee in their February 2022 TS:Digest cover story on cell chirality
Finding order through repulsion
A collaborative study from the Saunders Lab and the Telley Lab at Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Portugal, demonstrates how mechanical repulsive forces lead to precise arrangement of nuclei during development Learn more
Cui Hongyue
PhD Student, Class of August 2021, Li Group
Understanding the effects of aneuploidy
A review from Prof Rong Li and Dr. Jin Zhu outlines the the causes of aneuploidy and how it can affect cell behaviour and function. Learn more
Hugo Raveton
Intern, Chan Group
