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There are virtually hundreds of life scientists publishing hundreds
of papers a year on numerous aspects of the cell cycle. The
following are few of the topics covered: cell membrane
organization, membrane components, cytoskeleton and associated
proteins, cell motility, actin in dividing cells, surface
modulating assemblies, microfilaments, microtubules, cleavage
furrow, fusion, etc. In all these topics, lifescientists talk
about, among others, the forces within the system, the motion
within the system and the failure of the system. The concepts of
force, motion and failure are, one way or another, all related to
the structure of the cell and to the mechanics of the cell
activities. When the concepts of mechanics and structure enter the
problem then one has to talk about biomechanics; in this case,
biomechanics of cytology which we would like to call
"Cytbmechanics." However, a review of the journals, books and
conference proceedings related to various aspects of cytology
reveals that mechanicians have not yet entered the field of
cytology at a noticeable level. Some lifescientists have indeed
made use of the general principles of mechanics in their works;
however, no truly interdisciplinary publication has yet appeared
from the collaboration of mechanicians and lifescientists in the
field of, for instance, cell division.
Cytomechanics is the application of the classical principles of
mechanics in cell biology. It is an applied science concerned with
the description and evaluation of mechanical properties of cells
and their organelles as well as of the forces exerted by them.
Thus, this topic needs a truly interdisciplinary approach, and
accordingly this volume gives an up-to-date account of the current
research done on cell division, mitosis, cytokinesis, cell
locomotion and cell deformation during normal development and the
cytoskeletal role in cell shape. Biologists, biomechanicians,
biophysicists, biochemists and biomathematicians here discuss the
basic concepts of mechanics and thermodynamics, emphasizing their
applicability to cell activities.
The NATO Advanced Study Institute on Biomechanics of Active
Movement and Division of Cells was held September 19-29, 1993 in
Istanbul and the Proceedings are presented in this volume.
Sixty-eight scientists from sixteen countries attended. Prof. J.
Bereiter-Hahn of Goethe-Universitat, Frankfurt, Germany, Prof. A.K.
Harris of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA, Prof.
R.M. Nerem of Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA and
Prof. R. Skalak of the University of California, San Diego, USA
were the members of the International Organizing Committee. As the
Scientific Director of the Institute, I wish to express my sincere
appreciation for their assistance without which the Institute could
not have taken place. This Institute is the third one of the
meetings which are now called "the NATO Istanbul Meetings on
Cytomechanics". The first one was the NATO Advanced Research
Workshop on Biomechanics of Cell Division which was held October
12-17, 1986 in Istanbul. The Proceedings were published as NATO ASI
Series A Life Sciences Vol. 132 by Plenum Press in 1987. The second
one was the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Biomechanics of Active
Movement and Deformation of Cells which was held September 3-13,
1989 in Istanbul. The Proceedings were published as NATO ASI Series
H : Cell Biology Vol. 42 by Springer-Verlag in 1990.
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