Prof. Benedikt Sabaß, LMU München

Cellular micromechanics plays a ubiquitous role in biology, for example, for pathogen migration, cancer metastasis, morphogenesis, and tissue homeostasis. Sensing- and control mechanisms are usually central. In our research, we aim to understand the principles behind micromechanical control in biology, such as a tradeoff between control and emergence, optimization of performance, or robustness.

In this talk, I will present current and future research in our newly established ERC-funded group at LMU. We will explore surface adhesion and locomotion of eukaryotic and prokaryotic model organisms with an emphasize on the underlying stochastic processes. Two central topics of this talk will be a new mechanism for structural self-stabilization in eukaryotic cell-matrix adhesions and our recent results on mechanoregulation strategies employed by the bacterium P. aeruginosa during surface migration.

Broadly, we expect that studying specific, minimal mechanisms and their underlying principles will reveal basic biophysical motives that appear throughout development, homeostasis, and disease in nature.

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