12:00
Imperial College
January 21
Lecture theatre 200, City and Guilds Building
Explore the mechanics of the heart with Professor Julien Vermot for an insight into how physical forces shape organ development.
Please register to attend in person. A live stream link for online attendance will be available here shortly.
We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday 21 January!
Abstract
Understanding how physical forces shape organ development is a central question in developmental biology. The heart, a dynamic organ that forms and functions under continuous mechanical load, provides a striking example of this principle. Heart valve defects, among the most common congenital malformations, arise in part from disrupted responses to these mechanical cues. In recent years, mechanobiology has transformed our understanding of how cells sense and respond to force. Yet, the molecular links between mechanical stimuli and gene regulation during heart valve formation remain elusive. Emerging evidence now points to a surprising set of players — membrane channels that regulate ionic flux and water movement — as key mediators of this mechanotransduction process.
Julien Vermot is Professor of Biomechanical Signalling & Tissue Morphogenesis at Imperial College London, where he and his colleagues investigate how ion channels modulate mechanosensitive gene expression and the EndoMT process critical for valve morphogenesis. Combining gene expression studies with advanced 3D imaging, their work explores how biomechanical forces are translated into changes in chromatin organization and cell identity. By integrating insights from heart morphogenesis, biomechanics, and molecular signaling, this research aims to build a mechanistic framework for how mechanical forces sculpt the developing heart. In doing so, it promises to shed new light on the origins of congenital heart valve defects — and to inspire novel therapeutic strategies rooted in the physics of life. In his inaugural lecture, Julien Vermot will illustrate each facet of mechanobiological regulation in heart development through examples from his own research, spanning membrane channel function, nuclear mechanotransduction, and the cellular dynamics that drive valve morphogenesis.
Biography
Julien Vermot obtained his PhD in developmental biology from the University of Strasbourg in 2003, where he worked on the role of retinoic acid during embryonic development. He then worked as a visiting scientist the Stowers Institute for Biomedical Research in Kansas City, USA, followed by a post-doctoral position at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena where he developed new tools to study the role of mechanical forces during development. He was Research Director at the French INSERM before joining the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College London in 2019.