# Universal Roles of Force Generation and Transmission in Biological Systems

> **NIH NIH R01** · PURDUE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $426,648

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The ability of cells to generate mechanical forces is attributed primarily to molecular interactions between F-actin
and myosin molecular motors in the cell cytoskeleton. Force generated at the cytoskeleton level is translated to
cellular and tissue scales, facilitating interesting biomechanical phenomena at multiple scales. For example, it
endows the actin cytoskeleton with complex, non-equilibrium viscoelastic properties which cannot be described
by theories from statistical physics based on thermal equilibrium. It also drives drastic morphological
transformations of cells accompanied by large-scale flow of the cell cytoskeleton in cell migration, division, and
morphogenesis. In addition, cells use the force produced from the cytoskeleton for structurally remodeling
surrounding extracellular matrices as well as for mechanically communicating with other cells in wound healing
and capillary morphogenesis. In all these biomechanical phenomena, a delicate balance between force
generation, transmission, and relaxation plays a very important role, and the disruption of the balance has
dramatic impacts on the pathogenesis of disease, such as cancer metastasis. Despite the significance of
mechanical forces, understanding of principles that regulate the delicate balance in biological structures still
lacks. By developing multi-scale computational models and employing quantitative in vitro experiments, we will
shed light on universal roles and underlying principles of force generation, transmission, and relaxation in
biological processes at cytoskeleton, cell, and tissue scales. We aim to address two fundamental questions: i)
how forces are generated and lead to non-equilibrium viscoelastic behaviors in disorganized actin cytoskeleton
and ii) how the forces are translated to cellular and tissue scales and regulate cell shape changes, matrix
remodeling, and mechanical communication between distant cells by interacting and competing with other
intracellular and extracellular factors. Outcomes from the proposed research will provide critical insights into
fundamental understanding of physiological and pathophysiological processes regulated by mechanical forces.
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## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10001072
- **Project number:** 5R01GM126256-04
- **Recipient organization:** PURDUE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Taeyoon Kim
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $426,648
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-15 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10001072

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10001072, Universal Roles of Force Generation and Transmission in Biological Systems (5R01GM126256-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10001072. Licensed CC0.

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