Lee Ligon
Associate Professor
School of Science
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
United States of America
Biography
Ligon lab, we are interested in how cells function in the three-dimensional world. We study the internal structure of the cell, the cytoskeleton, and how it is organized to generate and maintain the complex 3D shape of differentiated cells. We also study how cells interact with their environment, in particular how cancer cells interact with the tissue surrounding the tumor, also known as the tumor microenvironment. We use a combination of live-cell imaging and other cell biological, biochemical and molecular techniques to examine cell structure, dynamics and function in the context of the living cell. Some cells, such as those of the nervous system, have elaborate three-dimensional shapes that are essential to their specialized activities.
Research Interest
Cell Biology, Neurosocience
Publications
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McLane JS, Rivet CJ, Gilbert RJ, Ligon LA. A biomaterial model of tumor stromal microenvironment promotes mesenchymal morphology but not epithelial to mesenchymal transition in epithelial cells. Acta Biomater. 2014 Jul 22. pii: S1742-7061(14)00310-9. doi: 10.1016/j.actbio.2014.07.016.
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McLane JS, Ligon LA. Palladin Mediates Stiffness-Induced Fibroblast Activation in the Tumor Microenvironment. Biophys J. 2015 Jul 21;109(2):249-64. doi: 10.1016/j.bpj.2015.06.033. PMID: 26200861
