~~ The Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Presents

Professor Zhangli Peng

Postdoc, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts

Topic: Biomechanics of Red Blood Cells and Related Diseases

Date: Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Time: 10:30am to 12:00pm (Refreshments from 10:00am to 10:30am)

Location: 348 Curry Student Center

Abstract: Molecular mutations can lead to altered mechanical properties and malfunction of cells. However, it is a grand computational challenge to bridge the scales from molecules to cells. In this seminar, I will show examples of applying multiscale modeling to investigate red blood cell (RBC) diseases starting from the molecular scale. We considered the detailed molecular architectures of RBCs and predicted the bilayer-cytoskeletal interaction bond strength, which is crucial for understanding hereditary spherocytosis. Furthermore, we found that only mature sexual malaria-infected RBCs is transmittable because they can escape from the spleen clearance due to their low stiffness. This discovery may inspire new drug manipulations on malaria-infected RBC stiffness to disrupt malaria transmission. These findings have only become possible due to the multiscale modeling technique and the state-of-the-art understanding of molecular structures, and promise a new avenue to study the mechanics of biological systems.

Short Bio: Zhangli Peng is currently carrying out his postdoctoral research in the Nanomechanics Laboratory in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He got his Ph.D. from the University of California San Diego. His main research area is multiscale modeling of cell/tissue biomechanics. Furthermore, he has also studied several kinds of bio-inspired structures, such as flow energy harvester by flapping foils, nacre shells and tensegrity structures.