The SCALE Science Lunch Seminar continues on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, at 12:30 h (s.t.) with a talk by Kate Miroshnikova Ph.D. (Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine, Münster).
Mechanical & soft matter properties of the nucleus in cell state regulation
Nuclear architecture coordinates patterns of gene expression and mediates cell identity and state. Nuclear architecture and shape are also fundamentally altered in most cancers and these abnormalities are routinely used to diagnose cancer and stage its aggressiveness. However, the causes and direct consequences of nuclear shape alterations in both healthy and diseased states have remained unclear. Using chromosome mis-segregation driven aneuploidy, therapy-driven cellular reprogramming in sarcomas, and colorectal cancer as models we study the roles of nuclear mechanics, deformation, and nuclear soft matter properties in cell state regulation, therapy resistance, and cancer progression. In my presentation I will discuss our recent research on how cells sense nuclear deformation and physical properties of the nuclei and how these mechanosignals are integrated with biochemical inputs to alter cell behaviors. We identify the nuclear periphery as a central hub for sensing and relaying abnormalities and dynamic changes in chromatin topology and dynamics. We further observe that heterogeneity in cell morphologies and states results not only from genetic, epigenetic, and phenotypic cellular diversity, which is pervasive in cancers, but also as a result of highly diversified tumor microenvironment.
The SCALE Science Lunch Seminar will take place in hybrid format. We warmly invite you to join us in person at the MPI for Biophysics, where a light lunch and coffee will be provided after the seminar. The talk will also be streamed live via Zoom. The zoom link will be sent by e-mail to the SCALE mailing list. To subscribe to the mailing list, please send an e-mail to scale-office@uni-frankfurt.de.
We look forward to welcoming you to the next SCALE Science Lunch Seminar.
