The investigation of changes in physical properties of cells during malignant transformation is an emerging field in current cancer research and cell biology. Recent findings in this new field obtained that the biomechanical properties of tumor cells promote their growth as well as their invasion within the human body. Several biomechanical properties are in the focus of these observations, such as: First, the actin cortex of cancer cells is much softer and supports fast growth and cell division. Second, although the actin cortex softens, it can resist high pressures exerted from the surroundings which supports tumor growth into the surrounding tissue. In return, elements of the cytoskeleton are pronounced which results in an overall stiffening of the tumor. These new insights could give rise to a better understanding how and why some cancer cells get the ability to metastasize and invade into the human body.
 

Topics included: Biomechanics (Biopolymers, Networks, Rheology, Cytoskeleton, Cell Shape) Forces, Motion, Adhesion (Cell Motility, Assembly, Molecular Motors, Cell Division) Oncology Imaging Organizing committee: Josef A. Käs (University of Leipzig, Germany) Harald Herrmann (German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany) Sarah Köster (Georg August University of Göttingen, Germany) Invited speakers: Ueli Aebi (University of Basel, Switzerland) Andreas Bausch (Technical University Munich, Germany)  Annette Beck-Sickinger (University of Leipzig, Germany) Michael Beil (University of Ulm, Germany) John Condeelis (Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, USA) Allen Ehrlicher (Harvard University, USA) Jens Elgeti (Institut Curie, France) Martin Falcke (Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine, Germany) Stefan Grill (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany) Jochen Guck (University of Cambridge, UK) Lars-Christian Horn (University of Leipzig, Germany) Ralf Kemkemer (Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Germany) Wolfgang Losert (University of Maryland, USA) Stuart Martin (University of Maryland, USA) Claudia Mierke (University of Leipzig, Germany) Ewa Paluch (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany) Manfred Radmacher (University of Bremen, Germany) Danijela Vignjevic (Institut Curie, France) Denis Wirtz (Johns Hopkins University, USA) Katarina Wolf (Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands) Mareike Zink (University of Leipzig, Germany)