Brockman Lab
Principal Investigator: Joshua Mark Brockman
Institution: University of Wisconsin–Madison (Madison, WI)
Primary Subfield: Synthetic Bio
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
Project Summary: Mechanical forces are critical in diverse biological processes, including coagulation, cancer metastasis, embryonic development, and immune function. Individual receptors exert forces at the piconewton scale, one trillionth the force required to lift an apple. Our lab seeks to develop novel “mechanoimaging” technologies that convert receptor level forces into visible light via fluorescence. We also seek to use programmed cellular forces to control biology, with a special focus on regulating the function of immune cells. Here, we propose to quantify and control receptor-level forces in viscoelastic materials. Despite their importance to biology, receptor-level forces have not been measured in viscoelastic materials. This is a fundamental limitation in the field of mechanobiology because biological tissues are viscoelastic, meaning they exhibit time-dependent deformation under applied force. With our mechanoimaigng technology, we will determine the magnitude and distribution of forces that cells use to interact with and physically remodel viscoelastic biomaterials. By measuring fibroblast and cancer cell forces transmitted to viscoelastic biomaterials, we will learn…
Active NIH Awards
- 5R35GM157007-02: Measuring and Programming Piconewton Receptor Forces for Synthetic Mechanobiology (2026)
- 1R35GM157007-01: Measuring and Programming Piconewton Receptor Forces for Synthetic Mechanobiology (2025)
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