© Raphael Schleutker

Research Topic

Our lab investigates how mechanical forces at the plasma membrane are translated into classical biochemical signal transduction cascades.  Mechano-chemical signal translation at cellular membranes has been shown to affect shape and migration of individual cells as well as of cellular ensembles.  However, despite its importance, the underlying molecular mechanisms have largely remained unclear.  To examine the interplay between mechanical forces and biochemical signaling, we apply an interdisciplinary approach combining classical cell biology with biophysical techniques, nanofabrication, and computational analysis of microscopic images. Together, these studies will advance our understanding of how mechanical forces contribute to signal propagation under physiological and pathological conditions.

Selected Publications

  • Bijonowski, B.M.*, Park, J.*, Bergert, M., Teubert, C., Diz-Muñoz, A., Galic, M.#, and Wegner, S.V.# (2025). Intercellular adhesion boots collective cell migration through elevated membrane tension. Nature Commun, 16, 1588, 10.1038/s41467-025-56941-4.
  • Ebrahimkutty, M., Duan, J., Nüsse, H., Klingauf, J., and Galic, M. (2023). Nanoridge Arrays for Quantitative Analysis of Protein Dynamics at Negatively Curved Membrane Sites. Nanoscale, 10.1039/D2NR05719K. 
  • Saha, T., Heuer, A.#, and Galic, M.# (2023). Systematic Analysis of Curvature-Dependent Lipid Dynamics in a Stochastic 3D Membrane Model. Soft Matter, 10.1039/D2SM01260J.
  • Mancinelli, G., Lamparter, T., Nosov, G., Saha, T., Pawluchin, A., Kurre, R., Rasch, C., Ebrahimkutty, M., Klingauf, J. and Galic, M. (2021).  Dendrite Tapering Actuates a Self-Organizing Signaling Circuit for Stochastic Filopodia Initiation in Neurons. PNAS, 118(43)e2106921118. 10.1073/pnas.2106921118.
  • Berganza, E. *, Ebrahimkutty, M.P., Vasantham, S.K., Zhong, C., Wunsch, A., Navarrete, A., Galic, M.#, and Hirtz, M.#(2021) Multiplexed phospholipid membrane platform for curvature sensitive protein screening. Nanoscale,13;12642-12650. 10.1039/D1NR01133B.
  • Begemann, I., Saha, T., Rathmann, I., Grill, D., Golbach, L., Rasch, C., Ricker, A., Trappmann, B., Matis, M., Gerke, V., Klingauf, J., and Galic, M.  (2019)  Mechano-chemical self-organization determines search pattern in migratory cells. Nat Phys, 15,848-857. 10.1038/s41567-019-0505-9.

* equal contribution ; # co-corresponding