DrIngmar Schoen

Our research aims to decipher the contribution of mechanical forces to pathophysiological aspects of cellular behaviour in the context of vascular biology, with a particular focus on platelets. Many cell types in the cardiovascular system have mechanical functions. These are regulated by sensing of active or passive mechanical stimuli (=mechanotransduction) and are reflected in cell morphology, contractility, and phenotype. We aim at identifying mechanical 'fingerprints' of cells that can serve as novel markers for diagnostic purposes. To this goal, our group is using a wide range of biophysical assays and super-resolution microscopy to measure cellular forces and supramolecular structures that mediate the mechanobiology of platelets and other cells, with the aim of utilizing these new fundamental insights for improving current therapeutics.

Platelets adhere and aggregate at injured vessel walls. These steps depend on contractile forces that are transmitted through specific adhesion receptors for collagen and von Willebrand factor or fibrinogen, respectively. We investigate the coordination between mechanical and biochemical processes in single platelets and in the developing thrombus. Our aim is to better understand how platelet mechanobiology controls the formation and growth of the thrombus. New insights into these fundamental processes will shed new light on platelet-related pathologies, ranging from bleeding diathesis to ischaemic stroke.

Towards these aims, we develop superresolution microscopy methods and novel labeling techniques to look into the structural basis of mechano-chemical coupling at the single cell level. We also establish high-throughput platforms for measuring single cell traction forces and morphometric screenings to assess subsets of platelets with different phenotypes and functions. To extract relevant morphological features and quantitative information, we employ advanced image analyses tailored to the specific problems at hand.

Our work is very interdisciplinary, as reflected by the journals in which the works have been published (Advanced Healthcare Materials, ACS Nano, Blood, Platelets, Nature Methods, Biophysical Journal, Science Robotics, Molecular Biology of the Cell, Scientific Reports, PLoS one). We are closely collaborating with other research groups within the Irish Centre for Vascular Biology (ICVB) at RCSI.

Please visit the SchoenLab website: https://schoenlab.mystrikingly.com/