Recent evidence suggests that polycystin-1 (PC1) acts as a mechanosensor, receiving signals from the primary cilia, neighboring cells, and extracellular matrix and transduces them into cellular responses that regulate proliferation, adhesion, and differentiation that are essential for the control of renal tubules and kidney morphogenesis. PC1 has an unusually long extracellular region ( approxi...

Amyloid or amyloid-like fibrils represent a general class of nanomaterials that can be formed from many different peptides and proteins. Although these structures have an important role in neurodegenerative disorders, amyloid materials have also been exploited for functional purposes by organisms ranging from bacteria to mammals. Here we review the functional and pathological roles of amyloid m...

An overview of theoretical and computational methods in the rapidly advancing field of Nanomechanics and Micromechanics of materials is given. This overview emphasizes the Multiscale Modelling of Materials (MMM) approach, which relies on a reduction of the degrees of freedom at natural length scales. Two main challenges are identified in the MMM approach: (i) the computational complexity of ful...

Owing to larger surface area in micro/nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS), surface forces such as adhesion, friction, and meniscus and viscous drag forces become large when compared with inertial and electromagnetic forces. There is a need to develop lubricants and identify lubrication methods that are suitable for MEMS/NEMS. For BioMEMS/BioNEMS, adhesion between biological molecular laye...

The nanomechanical properties of elastomeric proteins determine the elasticity of a variety of tissues. A widespread natural tactic to regulate protein extensibility lies in the presence of covalent disulfide bonds, which significantly enhance protein stiffness. The prevalent in vivo strategy to form disulfide bonds requires the presence of dedicated enzymes. Here we propose an alternative chem...