Michael SHEETZ
Founding Director and Collaborator, Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore
Affiliations
Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, UTMB Health
What are invadopodia?
What are invadopodia? Invadopodia are actin-rich structures that are present at the basal surfaces of cells that are capable of crossing extracellular barriers, such as cancer cells. The primary function of invadopodia appears to [...]
What are the functions of podosomes?
What are the functions of podosomes? Both focal adhesions and podosomes are intimately involved in cell motility, with podosomes specifically implicated in cell invasion. Invasiveness is achieved through the secretion of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) [...]
What are podosomes?
What are podosomes? Podosomes are actin-rich, adhesive structures that are present at the ventral surface of cells of the monocytic myeloid lineage, stimulated endothelial cells [1] and cultured Src-transformed cancer cells. These structures are [...]
What are the first steps in invadopodia assembly and disassembly?
What is the first step in invadopodia assembly? Initiation of invadopdia formation is highly complex, being influenced by various signalling cascades and phosphorylation events that occur following detection of a stimulant. For example, activation [...]
How do invadopodia degrade the extracellular matrix?
How do invadopodia degrade the extracellular matrix? The main function attributed to invadopodia is that of extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation, facilitated by the secretion of proteases. Maintenance of this process requires the delivery of [...]
Michael Sheetz
Collaborator
Research Areas
Cell migration, cell-cell and cell-substrate interaction
Research Interests
The morphology of cells, organs and whole organisms is determined by the generation of forces on the immediate environment, which is either extracellular matrix or adjacent cells. We are currently engaged in studies to understand the detailed molecular mechanisms involved in a variety of phenomena from cancer metastasis to brain function. Further, we are developing several new tools and protocols for measuring cell forces at the molecular level, which are revealing many new aspects of how cells can both generate and respond to external forces. We have an effort underway to define quantitatively the steps involved in cell adhesion to and spreading on a matrix-coated surface. Using a variety of cell lines that are missing proteins in various motility pathways, we are determining the quantitative changes in the spreading process. This will enable us to generate a detailed model of the process of spreading that will be a model for further studies of how cells differentiate, regenerate tissues or metastasize.
Biography
Hailing from Columbia University, Prof Michael Sheetz has more than 40 years’ experience in the biomedical field. Introduced to Singapore by Prof Hew Choy Leong of the National University of Singapore’s Department of Biological Sciences, Prof Sheetz was sought to lead an RCE project. This resulted in a two-year effort to organise and submit a proposal on Mechanobiology where Prof Sheetz set the theme and direction of the Mechanobiology Institute (MBI). As Founding Director of the MBI, he led the institute for 10 years and built it into a world-leading research centre in the field of mechanobiology.
Education
PhD California Institute of Technology
Recent Publications
- Jain K, Kishan K, Minhaj RF, Kanchanawong P, Sheetz MP, and Changede R. Immobile Integrin Signaling Transit and Relay Nodes Organize Mechanosignaling through Force-Dependent Phosphorylation in Focal Adhesions. ACS Nano 2025;. [PMID: 39760672]
- Lin S, Changede R, Farrugia AJ, Bershadsky AD, Sheetz MP, Prost J, and Rupprecht J. Membrane Tilt Drives Phase Separation of Adhesion Receptors. Phys Rev Lett 2024; 132(18):188402. [PMID: 38759206]
- Jain K, Minhaj RF, Kanchanawong P, Sheetz MP, and Changede R. Nano-clusters of ligand-activated integrins organize immobile, signalling active, nano-clusters of phosphorylated FAK required for mechanosignaling in focal adhesions. bioRxiv 2024;. [PMID: 38464288]
- Jain K, Pandey A, Wang H, Chung T, Nemati A, Kanchanawong P, Sheetz MP, Cai H, and Changede R. TiO2 Nano-Biopatterning Reveals Optimal Ligand Presentation for Cell-Matrix Adhesion Formation. Adv Mater 2024;:e2309284. [PMID: 38340044]
- Jain K, Lim KYE, Sheetz MP, Kanchanawong P, and Changede R. Intrinsic self-organization of integrin nanoclusters within focal adhesions is required for cellular mechanotransduction. bioRxiv 2023;. [PMID: 38045378]
- Oh D, Liu X, Sheetz MP, and Kenney LJ. Small, Dynamic Clusters of Tir-Intimin Seed Actin Polymerization. Small 2023;:e2302580. [PMID: 37649226]
- Qin R, Melamed S, Yang B, Saxena M, Sheetz MP, and Wolfenson H. Tumor Suppressor DAPK1 Catalyzes Adhesion Assembly on Rigid but Anoikis on Soft Matrices. Front Cell Dev Biol 2022; 10:959521. [PMID: 35927990]
- Jain K, Kanchanawong P, Sheetz MP, Zhou X, Cai H, and Changede R. Ligand functionalization of titanium nanopattern enables the analysis of cell-ligand interactions by super-resolution microscopy. Nat Protoc 2022;. [PMID: 35896742]
- Toh PJY, Lai JKH, Hermann A, Destaing O, Sheetz MP, Sudol M, and Saunders TE. Optogenetic control of YAP cellular localisation and function. EMBO Rep 2022;:e54401. [PMID: 35876586]
- Oh D, Chen Z, Biswas KH, Bai F, Ong HT, Sheetz MP, and Groves JT. Competition for shared downstream signaling molecules establishes indirect negative feedback between EGFR and EphA2. Biophys J 2022;. [PMID: 35430415]
Lab Members
Probing epithelial mechanics
Tools of the trade
Wu Kaixiang Selwin
Senior Research Fellow, Low Group
Hamizah Cognart
Research Fellow, Low Group
Prit Benny Malgulwar
Research Fellow IFOM, Visiting Research Fellow MBI, Shivashankar Group
Olivier Hamant
Prof Olivier Hamant from INRA will be visiting MBI from 4 Dec 2018 – 3 June 2019.
MBI’s 10th Anniversary Conference Post-Event Report
Mechanobiology Institute’s 10th Anniversary Conference was recently held at the National University of Singapore. Titled ‘Mechanobiology After 10 Years: The Promise of Mechanomedicine’, the four-day conference was an intellectual feast, bringing together pioneering scientists with young researchers and students to engage in fruitful discussions under the increasingly diverse umbrella of mechanobiology.
MBI PI Lim Chwee Teck named one of NUS’ highly cited researchers for 2018
For the fifth year in a row, researchers at NUS have been crowned as some of the most influential in the world. MBI Principal Investigator Lim Chwee Teck is one of those honored in 2018.
Igor Pivkin
Prof Igor V Pivkin of Università Della Svizzera Italiana will be visiting MBI till February 2019.
Veena Venugopal
Research Assistant, Saunders Group
Eugene Seow Qun Zhou
Alumni, Low Group
Protected: MBI 10th Anniversary Abstract Book
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MBI Women in Science welcomes Jane Clarke, Professor of Molecular Biophysics and President of Wolfson College
Jane Clarke is a distinguished biophysical chemist recognised internationally for her multidisciplinary work advancing the understanding of protein folding and misfolding. Prof Clarke will be visiting MBI on December 5th, 2018, to give a seminar on her research and career.
