MIT OpenCourseWare

Browse materialsMIT 20.310J · Spring 2015

Molecular, Cellular, and Tissue Biomechanics

Subjects: Biology · Engineering · Mechanical Engineering

Art: PSM V09 D115 Pasteur apparatus for germ studies, 1876 · Public domain

Instructors: Prof. Roger Kamm, Prof. Alan Grodzinsky
Term: Spring 2015
Level: Undergraduate
What's inside: 10 problem sets · 1 reading · 25 other files · 5 web pages
Materials open: MIT OCW

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About this course

Source: MIT OpenCourseWare 20.310J Molecular, Cellular, and Tissue Biomechanics, Spring 2015, Prof. Roger Kamm, Prof. Alan Grodzinsky — original course page on ocw.mit.edu ↗. License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Study order: MIT's own listing order, section by section. Taken from MIT's published course files, downloaded from ocw.mit.edu on September 23, 2026. How RedLectern is built.

Materials are grouped the way MIT organized them. A verified, course-wide order has not been established here.

Before you start

Prerequisites are not listed here. Check MIT's own syllabus for this course.

This course’s cited books, in our reading lists: Molecular Cell Biology · Mechanics of Motor Proteins and the Cytoskeleton · Physical Biology of the Cell

How this course was organized

What's here, and what isn't

MIT's own materials here did not support a verified, course-wide order, so they are grouped by section instead.

Not included here

25 items from the source could not be safely included:

MIT's page format for this item wasn't recognized clearly enough to place it safely. (25 items)

Materials by section

Grouped by section, as MIT organized them. Not sequenced or ordered.

Readings

Lecture Slides

22 files

Assignments

10 problem sets

MIT OpenCourseWare, Prof. Roger Kamm, Prof. Alan Grodzinsky, 20.310J Molecular, Cellular, and Tissue Biomechanics, Spring 2015.

License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · Edition: Spring 2015 · Open the original course on OCW ↗

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Molecular, Cellular, and Tissue Biomechanics

Before you start

What's here, and what isn't

Not included here

Materials by section

Readings

Lecture Slides

Assignments

Lecture 3: Energy Landscapes and Transition States Energy landscapes and reaction coordinates; transition state theory in thermodynamics; attempt rate and estimation of kinetics; Examples in Antiobody-antigen binding, DNA unfolding, hemoglobin.

Lecture 5: Kramers’ and Bell’s Models of Reversible Binding Effects of force on binding equilibrium; examples in reaction kinetics of ligands and receptors; applications to molecular adhesion. Eyring, Kramers, and Bell’s effect of applied force on reaction rate constants.

Lecture 11: Time-dependent Viscoelasticity of Tissues Creep and stress relaxation of tissues: Experimental evidence and the lumped parameter models of Time-dependent viscoelastic behavior of tissues;

Lecture 12: Dynamic (Frequency-dependent) Viscoelasticity Dynamic tissue behavior: The oscillator complex modulus (storage and loss moduli) using the ‘Standard 3-Element Linear Solid’ viscoelastic model as an example.

Lecture 15: Dynamic Nanomechanical Behavior of Extracellular Matrix Macromolecules Connections between the elastic, viscoelastic and poroelastic behavior of tissues and Time-dependent behavior of their constituent extracellular matrix molecules.

Lecture 17: Cell Mechanics: Structure of the Cell A brief overview of cell anatomy. Experimental measurements of cell elasticity. Micro versus macro perspectives. Data interpretation using scaling and approximation. Cytoskeletal microstructure and a reconsideration of the HILE assumptions.

Lecture 18: Visco / Poroelasticity, Large Amplitude Deformations Normal cell deformations. Active generation of internal tension. Need for experiments on gel systems. Comparison with exisiting viscoelastic and poroelastic models. Nonlinear elastic behavior. Fluidization.

Lecture 19: Microstructural Models of the Cytoskeleton Tensegrity, cellular solids, and biopolymer models of cytoskeletal elasticity. Scaling analyses to ‘derive’ basic predictions. Comparison to measurements.

Lecture 20: The Cell Membrane Membrane composition. Stretch, bending, and shear. Equations that govern membrane mechanics. Membrane tension versus bending. Relative importance of membrane and cytoskeleton.

Lecture 24: Muscle from the Molecular, Cellular and Tissue Perspectives