Delanoë-Ayari, H., Hiraiwa, T., Marcq, P., Rieu, J. P., & Saw, T. B., 2.5 D Traction Force Microscopy: Imaging three-dimensional cell forces at interfaces and biological applications.In J Biochem Cell Bio, DOI: 10.1016/j.biocel.2023.106432.
Saw, T.B.*, Gao, X.M.*, …, Prost, J., Lim, C.T., Transepithelial Potential Difference governs epithelial homeostasis through electromechanics.Nature Physics, DOI: 0.21203/rs.3.rs-727744/v1.
This work showed that the Transepithelial Potential governs epithelial homeostasis through an electromechanical pathway, thus controlling cell death, proliferation and tissue architecture. It is fundamentally different from the usual studies of electric field/cell interaction that normally investigates cell migration or galvanotaxis
Balasubramaniam, L., Doostmohammadi, A., Saw, T.B., …, Ladoux, B., Investigating the nature of active forces in tissues reveals how contractile cells can form extensile monolayers.Nature Materials, DOI: 10.1038/s41563-021-00919-2.
This work investigated the role of cell-cell junctions that caused single cell dynamics/active stress property to be very different from that of cells tightly coupled to one another. The use of the active nematic framework also provided an interesting way to classify epithelial dynamics.
Teo, J.L., Lim, C.T., Yap, A.S. and Saw, T.B., A Biologist’s Guide to Traction Force Microscopy Using Polydimethylsiloxane Substrate for Two-Dimensional Cell Cultures.STAR protocols, DOI: 10.1016/j.xpro.2020.100098.
Xi, W.*, Saw, T.B.*, Delacour, D., Lim, C.T. and Ladoux, B., Material approaches to active tissue mechanics.Nature Reviews Material, DOI: 10.1038/s41578-018-0066-z.
Liu, Y., Dong, X., Deng, X., Saw, T.B., Lim, C.T., Liu, J. and Wang, W., January. Ultra-thin Parylene-C Deposition on PDMS. In 2019 IEEE 32nd International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS), DOI: 10.1109/memsys.2019.8870876.
Chen, T., Saw, T.B., Mège, R.M. and Ladoux, B., Mechanical forces in cell monolayers.Journal of cell science, DOI: 10.1242/jcs.218156.
Saw, T.B.*, Xi, W.*, Ladoux, B. and Lim, C.T., Biological tissues as active nematic liquid crystals. Advanced material, DOI: 0.1002/adma.201802579.
Xi, W.*, Sonam, S.*, Saw, T.B.*, Ladoux, B. and Lim, C.T., Emergent patterns of collective cell migration under tubular confinement. Nature communications, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01390-x.
This work showed that 3D tubular structures influence the speed and mechanism in which epithelial cell layers collectively migrate. It demonstrated the importance of geometry in regulating tissue behaviour.
Saw, T.B.*, Doostmohammadi, A.*, …, Ladoux, B., Topological defects in epithelia govern cell death and extrusion.Nature, DOI: 10.1038/nature21718.
(Cited >300 times since 2017, ref. Google Scholar)
This work showed that the description of active nematics, a liquid crystalline phase, can be used to understand the dynamics and organization of confluent epithelial layers, and that there exists deep links between topological defects (cell misalignment points) and biological function (cell death). It is different from prior active matter studies that concentrated only on dynamics and at the cytoskeleton level.
Kocgozlu, L.*, Saw, T.B.*, …, Ladoux, B., Epithelial cell packing induces distinct modes of cell extrusions.Current Biology, DOI:10.1016/j.cub.2016.08.057.
This work demonstrated that actin purse string and actomyosin contractility is not the only actin-based mechanism in apoptotic cell extrusion, but that cryptic-lamellipodium and Rac1-based actin polymerization is important as well depending on cell density of the tissue. It showed the coupling between two parameters of very different length-scales, i.e. cell density and actin molecular mechanisms.
Saw, T.B., Jain, S., Ladoux, B. and Lim, C.T., Mechanobiology of collective cell migration. Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering, DOI: 10.1007/s12195-014-0366-3.
Doostmohammadi, A., Thampi, S.P., Saw, T.B., Lim, C.T., Ladoux, B. and Yeomans, J.M., Celebrating Soft Matter's 10th Anniversary: Cell division: a source of active stress in cellular monolayers. Soft Matter, DOI: 10.1039/c5sm01382h.
