Welcome to the Mechanobiology & Biomaterials group

The Mechanobiology & Biomaterials group is an academic research lab at the University of Mons in Belgium. The lab is hosted by the Faculty of Sciences on the Campus of Sciences and Medicine.

Our laboratory specializes in cellular mechanobiology and the development of innovative biomaterials. We aim to understand how the physico-chemical properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM) regulate cellular signaling pathways and functions. To this end, we engineer the cellular microenvironment to modulate cell–substrate adhesions, which are mechanically coupled to the contractile cytoskeleton—the primary site of force transmission within the cell. This mechanical coupling enables cells to sense, adapt to, and respond to physical changes in their surroundings.

Our research focuses on how mechanical constraints, force transmission, and spatial confinement influence key biological processes such as tissue repair, tumor metastasis, and morphogenesis. We investigate how mechanical memory can emerge from transient stimuli, how matrix curvature and confinement guide cell migration, and how environmental signals reshape nuclear morphology, modulate nuclear mechanics, and reprogram gene expression.

Our experimental approach integrates concepts from the physical chemistry of soft condensed matter and engineering sciences to address these questions at both the single-cell and tissue levels. We apply a multidisciplinary toolkit that includes custom-designed cell culture substrates, microforce measurement devices, soft hydrogels, photopolymerization techniques, protein micropatterning, advanced optical microscopy, molecular and cell biology methods, and genetically modified cell lines.

Please visite the research page for more details