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Yuan-Nan Young

2012-01-05
15:30:00 - 16:20:00

101 , Mathematics Research Center Building (ori. New Math. Bldg.)

In this talk I will first present a brief overview of mechanosensory mechanism relevant to the primary cilium. The primary cilium is a microtubule-based structure that is present in most non-mototic mammalian cells. The motile cilia beat and generate mixing fluid flow while the primary cilia are non-motile and do not generate any motion. In response to the extracellular fluid flow, the primary cilium bends and the mechanotransduction is initiated.

In the second half of the talk I will present modeling work on both the equilibrium shape of a primary cilium under flow and its dynamics. The cilium is modeled as an elastic beam that undergoes large-angle deflection under flow. By combining modeling and experiments, we show that the support from the basal body can be modeled as a nonlinear rotational spring. We obtain good agreement with experiments when we simulate the dynamics of cilium bending and relaxing using parameters that correspond to experimental setup. Details of the rotational spring is further elucidated by the mechanical coupling between an elastic beam and an elastic cylindrical shell. These results shed light on the physics underlying the mechanosensitive ion channel transport.

For material related to this talk, click here.