Mohd Suhail Rizvi

Biomechanical interaction of cells and extracellular matrix

We use computational and analytical models to explore mechanical properties of fibrous materials (e.g. ECM and scaffolds) and their influence on cell response. Some of the questions we are trying to answer are- What are the micromechanical properties of fibrous biomaterials and their dependence on structure? How do cells sense ECM mechanical properties? How do cells remodel ECM architecture? What are the physical mechanisms of force transmission from macroscopic length scales or a tissue to microscopic lengths at the scale of single cells? Some relevant publication on this are

• Micromechanics of fibrous scaffolds and their stiffness sensing by cells in Biomedical Materials (2024) with Dhruba Jyoti Mech (pre-print version)
• Cortical ductility governs cell-cell adhesion mechanics (under review) with Aditya Arora, Gianluca Grenci, Florian Dilasser, Chaoyu Fu, Modhura Ganguly, Sree Vaishnavi, Kathirvel Paramsivam, Srikanth Budnar, Ivar Noordstra, Alpha S. Yap, and Virgile Viasnoff (pre-print version)
• Statistical model for the mechanical behavior of the tissue engineering non-woven fibrous matrices under large deformationin Journal of the mechanical behavior of biomedical materials (2014) with Anupam Pal (full text)

Cell motility and collective cell migration

We have been interested in looking into the biophysics of cell motility. Using mathematical modeling and simulation we study swimming and crawling motility of mammalian and unicellular organisms with and without any external chemical or mechanical stimuli. We are also working to understand the physical mechanisms of collective migrations in biological systems. Relevant publications include

• Hydrodynamics-driven phase-locking and collective motility of sessile active dumbbells with Urvi Bora (submitted), (pre-print version)
• Mammalian Amoeboid Swimming is propelled by molecular and not protrusion-based paddling in Lymphocytes in Biophysical journal (2020) with L Aoun, P Nègre, A Farutin, N Garcia-Seyda, R Galland, A Michelot, X Luo, M Biarnes-Pelicot, C Hivroz, S Rafai, J-B Sibarita, M-P Valignat, C Misbah, and O Theodoly (pre-print version)
• Deformable microswimmer in an external force field, in Physical Review Fluids (2020) with P. Peyla, A Farutin, and C Misbah (full text)

Pattern formation

Using mathematical modeling and numerical simulations we explore pattern formation in different biological contexts. We explore the gene-regulatory and protein-kinetics based biophysical mechanisms of pattern formation in biological tissues. We also work on field theoretical models of scalar and vector field patterns in tissues. Some recent publications are

• Emergence of planar cell polarity from the interplay of local interactions and global gradients in eLife (2025) with Divyoj Singh, Sriram Ramaswamy, and Mohit Jolly, (pre-print version)
• Heterophilic Cell-Cell Adhesion of Atypical Cadherins Fat and Dachsous Regulate Epithelial Cell Size Dynamics during Drosophila Thorax Morphogenesis in Molecular Biology of the Cell (2020) with A Kumar, Thamarailingam A, S S Parihar, and P Sinha
• Continuum Theory for Planar Cell Polarity with Divyoj Singh and Mohit Jolly, (pre-print version)

Mechanoregulation in embryonic development

Our research on mechanoregulation in embryonic development explores how physical forces and molecular mechanisms, such as planar cell polarity, cell migration, and adhesion, orchestrate tissue organization and morphogenesis. We are interested in identifying key processes like integrin-mediated cell-cell signaling of mechanical forces in coordinated movement and structural integrity during development. Some relevant publications are

• Proximate Larval Epidermal Cell Layer Generates Forces for Pupal Thorax Closure in Drosophila melanogaster in Genetics (2022) with Thamarailingam A, SP Parihar, R Bhattacharya, A Kumar, and P Sinha (pre-print version)
• Heterophilic Cell-Cell Adhesion of Atypical Cadherins Fat and Dachsous Regulate Epithelial Cell Size Dynamics during Drosophila Thorax Morphogenesis in Molecular Biology of the Cell (2020) with A Kumar, Thamarailingam A, S S Parihar, and P Sinha
• Mathematical modeling of sub-cellular asymmetry of fat-dachsous heterodimer for generation of planar cell polarity in Plos One (2014) with Mohit Joly and Pradip Sinha

Constitutive modeling of biomaterials

We work in collaboration with experimentalists to study the constitutive modeling of biological materials and tissues. We formulate constitutive models for the mechanical response to understand the observations in destructive and non-destructive mechanical testing. We are also interested in identfying the structure-property relationships of mechanical response. Some relevant publications are

• Structure-induced nonlinear viscoelasticity of non-woven fibrous matricesin Biomechanics and modeling in mechanobiology (2016) with A Pal and Sovan Das (full text)
• Mathematical model of mechanical behavior of micro/nanofibrous materials designed for extracellular matrix substitutesin Acta Biomatrialia (2012) with P Kumar, DS Katti, and A Pal (full text)
• Statistical model for the mechanical behavior of the tissue engineering non-woven fibrous matrices under large deformationin Journal of the mechanical behavior of biomedical materials (2014) with Anupam Pal (full text)

Mechanics of cancer metastasis

We are exploring the role of mechanics in dissemination of circulating tumor cells. We develop fluid-structure interaction based computational models to study the bio-fluid mechanics of cancer metastasis. We also look at the role of mechano-sensitive interactions between cancer cells and blood vessels. Relevant publications include

• Flow driven vesicle unbinding under mechanosensitive adhesion in Soft Matter (2022) with A Farutin and C Misbah (full text)
• Intercellular mechanosensitive adhesion dynamics under shear flow with Jaswanth Beere

Three-dimensional bioprinting

In collaboration with exprimentalists, we are looking the the mechanics of 3D bioprinting. In particular we are estimating the mechanical microenvironment experienced by the cells during printing and the post-printing morphing of the printed structures. Recent publications include

• Engineering anisotropic tissue analogues: harnessing synergistic potential of extrusion-based bioprinting and extracellular matrix-based bioink in Biofabrication (2024) with Ashis Kumar Bera, Vijayasankar KN, and Falguni Pati

Rheology of biological materials and tissues

We are also interested in exploring the active rheology of cellular suspensions and epithelial tissues. We have looked at the role of interaction between biological activity and external flows and their effect on suspension/tissue rheology. Recent publications include:

• Rheological signature of microswimmer phase-locking under flow in Physical Review Fluids (2019) with A Nait-Ouhra, A Farutin, P Peyla, S Rafai, and C Misbah, (full text)