<p>Mechanical forces play a central role in ubiquitous phenomena such as cell-adhesion, tissue organization, and muscle function in multi-cellular organisms. Cell-adhesion is also essential in wound healing, protecting us from microorganisms, and maintaining immunity. Unraveling the molecular mechanism of these important biophysical and mechanochemical (chemistry of single-molecules under a stretching forces) processes is an exciting question in modern cell biology. The key players in cell-adhesion are protein molecules on the cell-surface, which act as mechanosensors and communicate the surrounding dynamic microenvironment with the cell. Hence, studying the mechanical response of these biomolecules would provide a wealth of information about their structure, function, and chemistry. We use state-of-the-aft atomic force microscope (AFM) to probe single molecules. By using this novel technique, we can apply stretching force to a single protein molecule, measure its mechanical response and study protein mechanics.</p><p>The following are the research interests:</p><p>Mechanochemistry (chemistry upon mechanical activation of bonds) and kinetic characterization of chemical and biochemical reactions.</p><p>Investigation of mechanical behaviour and functional role of different classes of cell-adhesion biomolecules.</p><p>Engineering novel proteins with diverse mechanical functions based on cell-adhesionproteins. Elucidation of mechanical unfolding/unfolding pathways of proteins and their relation with biochemical pathways.</p><p>Development of novel single-molecule assays for protein-protein, protein-DNA, and protein-RNA interactions.</p>