Cannon Room, HMS Quad
Speaker: Jeffrey
Fredberg, PhD
Title: “Frozen
objects: small airways, big breaths, and asthma.”
Question: How does
stretch influence sub-cellular mechanical properties?
Quantitative Method: Molecular-scale
experimental probes of cytoskeletal deformability, contractility, and
remodeling.
Medical Impact: During the asthmatic
attack, airway smooth muscle undergoes a phase transition and becomes frozen in
a stiff glassy state.
Suggested
Fredberg,
JJ. Frozen objects: small airways, big
breaths and asthma. J. of Allergy and
Clinical Immunology (2000), 106, 615-24.
Speaker URL: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/faculty/jeffrey-fredberg/.