A big thanks to Siiri’s opponent Pirta Hotulainen from the Minerva Foundation Institute for Medical Research, University of Helsinki for joining us in person. It was a great discussion and now Siiri is off to the UK for her first…
Erratum: Integrin Binding Dynamics Modulate Ligand-Specific Mechanosensing in Mammary Gland Fibroblasts by Martina Lerche et al.
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.100907.].
Kinase-Independent Functions of MASTL in Cancer: A New Perspective on MASTL Targeting by James Ronald William Conway et al.
Microtubule-associated serine/threonine kinase-like (MASTL; Greatwall) is a well-characterized kinase, whose catalytic role has been extensively studied in relation to cell-cycle acceleration. Importantly, MASTL has been implicated to play a substantial role in cancer progression and subsequent studies have shown that…
Johanna Lilja defended her PhD thesis in June and did a fantastic job!
It was the first time we did this over zoom. After a few small techincal hiccups, everything went smoothly! So proud of you Johanna and thanks for the after party in sunny Ruissalo! Also a big thanks to her opponent…
Long-overdue celebrations
After more than 2.5 months working remote or in isolation in the lab, we felt it was important to get together in the park (safe distance of course) and celebrate all the latest accomplishments: three papers, one lab guidebook and…
Mechano-responsiveness of fibrillar adhesions on stiffness-gradient gels by Nuria Barber-Pérez et al.
Fibrillar adhesions are important structural and adhesive components in fibroblasts, and are required for fibronectin fibrillogenesis. While nascent and focal adhesions are known to respond to mechanical cues, the mechanoresponsive nature of fibrillar adhesions remains unclear. Here, we used ratiometric…
MASTL promotes cell contractility and motility through kinase-independent signaling by Maria Emilia Taskinen et al.
Microtubule-associated serine/threonine-protein kinase-like (MASTL) is a mitosis-accelerating kinase with emerging roles in cancer progression. However, possible cell cycle-independent mechanisms behind its oncogenicity remain ambiguous. Here, we identify MASTL as an activator of cell contractility and MRTF-A/SRF (myocardin-related transcription factor A/serum…
A little something to read by Aki Stubb et al.
Thanks to the FinELib consortium (Finnish universities, research institutions and public libraries) we have been able to make our most recent publication in Nano Letters open access! “…
Fluctuation-Based Super-Resolution Traction Force Microscopy by Aki Stubb et al.
Cellular mechanics play a crucial role in tissue homeostasis and are often misregulated in disease. Traction force microscopy is one of the key methods that has enabled researchers to study fundamental aspects of mechanobiology; however, traction force microscopy is limited…
Integrin Binding Dynamics Modulate Ligand-Specific Mechanosensing in Mammary Gland Fibroblasts by Martina Lerche et al.
The link between integrin activity regulation and cellular mechanosensing of tissue rigidity, especially on different extracellular matrix ligands, remains poorly understood. Here, we find that primary mouse mammary gland stromal fibroblasts (MSFs) are able to spread efficiently, generate high forces,…