SEMINAR ANNOUNCEMENT
Andrew Resnick, PhD
Dept of Physiology and Biophysics
Case Western Reserve University
Possible role of the primary cilium as a
flow sensor
Thursday, November 2, 2006
12 noon, SI 147
Abstract: A goal of this talk is to make biological research comprehensible to
physical scientists. Recent experimental evidence has pointed to the primary
(nonmotile) cilium as the mechanosensory organelle in epithelial cells. While
most studies to date have reported cellular responses, such as elevation of
intracellular Ca2+ to acute force applications, three recent studies have described
angiotensin receptor expression, STAT6 translocation, and decreased
transepithelial sodium current to chronic application of low forces. Chronic force
sensing occurs at levels significantly lower than previously reported, and
mechanosensing is abolished when the primary cilium is removed. This provides
evidence that the cilium is a seat of mechanosensation in this cell system. We
conclude that the cellular response occurs even when the applied force is, at an
upper limit, 4.6*10-3 pN, only twice that of thermal noise (kT/L = 2*10-3 pN). I will
attempt to make the relevant biology comprehensible to a physicist, to show how
physics makes a vital contribution to this type of research, and also to show why
the above work is important to biologists.
Pizza and Refreshments provided at 12noon.
Undergraduate students are encouraged to attend!