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Genamics JournalSeek
Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics (MCB)
Mol Cell Biomech
ISSN (printed): 1556-5297. ISSN (electronic): 1556-5300.
The field of biomechanics concerns with motion, deformation, and forces in biological systems. With the explosive progresses in molecular biology, genomic engineering, and nanotechnology, it become apparent that biomechanics focusing on single molecules or single cells is an important aspect of modern biological sciences. As one of the most prominent cell biologists and President of the U.S. National Academy of Science Dr. Bruce Alberts pointed out, a cell is a collection of protein machine and all biological functions of life derives from the structure and the ordered conformational changes of several protein assemblies or assemblies of several cell types in a spatially orchestrated extracellular matrix (Cell, Vol. 92, 291-294, February, 1998). The aims of this journal are to facilitate the studies of the mechanics of biomolecules including proteins and nucleic acid and the mechanics of single cells (and their interactions with extracellular matrix). The scope of the journal is broad-based, and includes: Mechanical Behaviors of Biomolecules: Studies of how mechanical forces and deformation affect the conformation, binding/reaction, and transport of biomolecules. Studies of how the structural rigidity of DNA, RNA and proteins under stretching, twisting, bending and shearing affects DNA condensation, gene replication and transcription, DNA-protein/RNA-protein interactions, protein function, protein-protein and receptor-ligand interactions. Studies of mechanobiochemical coupling in biomolecular motors. Studies of the mechanics of subcellular structures and protein assemblies/complexes. Mechanical Behaviors of Single Cells: Studies of how cells sense mechanical forces or deformations, and transduce them into biological responses. Specifically, studies of how mechanical forces alter cell growth, differentiation, movement, signal transduction, protein secretion and transport, gene expression and regulation. Studies of single cell behavior, including viscoelastic properties, cell growth, spreading, rounding, crawling, cell adhesion, cell cytoskeleton dynamics, cell-cell and cell-ECM interactions. Multiscale Computational Tools: Development of simulation models and numerical methods for the analysis, modeling, and prediction of the biomechanical behaviors and function of single cells (and their extracellular matrix) and biomolecules. Methodologies include Molecular and Langevin dynamics of biomolecules and Mesoscopic modeling techniques. Multi-spatial and-time-scale modeling methodologies, and seamless coupling of nano-micro-macro computational models. Experimental Biomechanics Methods: Development of experimental techniques to study the mechanical behavior of cells including local probes to deform a portion of the cell, mechanical deformation of a single cell, and simultaneous mechanical stressing of a population of cells. Methods for single-molecule biomechanics studies, including attachment, positioning and manipulating of single molecules, imaging and measuring deformation, and applying simple or combined loads.
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