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In recent years we have focused on the small-scale measurement of mechanics and biology in single cells. We designed a novel hybrid method that uses optical microscopy and hyperelastic warping to directly link intranuclear strain patterns to RNA expression. Our data suggest that strain is transferred over spatial scales from the tissue surface to nucleus interior, and directly contributes to patterns of gene expression through spatially-dependent nuclear deformation. Moreover, we have recently shown that substrate stretching and osmotic loading of single cells influences both the traction force experienced at the cell surface, and the transfer of strain to the nuclear interior, as represented in the selected publications below:

Xu X., Li X., Cai L., Calve S., Neu C.P. (2016). Mapping the nonreciprocal micromechanics of individual cells and the surrounding matrix within living tissues. Scientific Reports 6:24727.
Calve S., Ready A., Huppenbauer C., Main R., Neu C.P. (2015). Optical clearing in dense connective tissues to visualize cellular connectivity in situ. PLoS ONE. Jan 12;10(1):e0116662. PMID: 25581165.
Henderson J.T., Shannon G., Veress A., Neu C.P. (2013). Direct measurement of intranuclear strain distributions and RNA synthesis in single cells embedded within native tissue. Biophysical Journal 105(10):2252-2261.
Mousoulis C., Maleki T., Ziaie B., Neu C.P. (2013). Atomic force microscopy-coupled microcoils for cellular-scale nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Applied Physics Letters 102, 143702.
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