Welcome to the
Mechanobiology & Biomaterials group
at the University of Mons

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 cell 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 allows cells to sense, adapt to, and respond to physical changes in their surroundings.

Our research focuses on how mechanical constraints, force transmission, and cell confinement influence critical biological processes such as tissue repair, tumor metastasis, and morphogenesis. We investigate how mechanical memory emerges from transient stimuli, how spatial confinement and matrix curvature guide cell migration, and how microenvironmental signals reshape nuclear morphology, alter nuclear mechanics, and modulate transcriptional programs.

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