Related papers: Antibody binding reports spatial heterogeneities i…
Lipid membranes form the barrier between the inside and outside of cells and many of their subcompartments. As such, they bind to a wide variety of nano- and micrometer sized objects and, in the presence of strong adhesive forces, strongly…
We study two mechanisms for the formation of protein patterns near membranes of living cells by mathematical modelling. Self-assembly of protein domains by electrostatic lipid-protein interactions is contrasted with self-organization due to…
Electrostatic interactions fundamentally govern the structure, stability, and dynamics of charged (bio)matter, yet the impact of heterogeneous and anisotropic charge distributions on the behavior of protein solutions remains elusive. Here,…
Cells are dynamic systems characterized by temporal variations in biophysical properties such as stiffness and contractility. Recent studies show that the recruitment and release of actin filaments into and out of the cell cortex - a…
Soft interfaces formed by lipid membranes are fundamental to living cells, synthetic cells, and membrane-based soft materials. However, a quantitative framework linking molecular organization with nonlinear interfacial mechanics remains…
Despite more than 100 years of study, it is unclear if the movement of proteins inside the cell is best described as a mosh pit or an exquisitely choreographed dance. Recent studies suggest the latter. Local interactions induce molecular…
Living organisms rely on molecular networks, such as gene circuits and signaling pathways, for information processing and robust decision-making in crowded, noisy environments. Recent advances show that interacting biomolecules…
Understanding protein motion within the cell is crucial for predicting reaction rates and macromolecular transport in the cytoplasm. A key question is how crowded environments affect protein dynamics through hydrodynamic and direct…
Biomolecular condensates constitute a newly recognized form of spatial organization in living cells. Although many condensates are believed to form as a result of phase separation, the physicochemical properties that determine the phase…
Homogeneity is a crucial, but poorly tested, assumption in cosmology. We introduce a new approach which allows us to place limits on the presence of localized structures within essentially our entire observable volume, using cosmic…
The ability of cells to reorganize in response to external stimuli is important in areas ranging from morphogenesis to tissue engineering. Elongated cells can co-align due to steric effects, forming states with local order. We show that…
Biological membranes are elastic media in which the presence of a transmembrane protein leads to local bilayer deformation. The energetics of deformation allow two membrane proteins in close proximity to influence each other's equilibrium…
The thermodynamic properties of gases have been understood primarily through phase diagrams of bulk gases. However, observations of gases confined in a nanometer space have posed a challenge to the principles of classical thermodynamics.…
In systems biomedicine, an experimenter encounters different potential sources of variation in data such as individual samples, multiple experimental conditions, and multi-variable network-level responses. In multiparametric cytometry,…
Lipid structures exhibit complex and highly dynamic lateral structure; and changes in lipid density and fluidity are believed to play an essential role in membrane targeting and function. The dynamic structure of liquids on the molecular…
Mapping conformational heterogeneity of macromolecules presents a formidable challenge to X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy, which often presume its absence. This has severely limited our knowledge of the conformations…
Nanobodies (Nb) are monomeric heavy-chain fragments derived from heavy-chain only antibodies naturally found in Camelids and Sharks. Their considerably small size (~3-4 nm; 13 kDa) and favorable biophysical properties make them attractive…
High-resolution structural information on membrane proteins is essential for understanding cell biology and for structure-based design of new medical drugs and drug delivery strategies. X-ray diffraction (XRD) can provide {\AA}ngstrom-level…
Biomolecular condensates composed of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) are vital for proper cellular function, and their dysfunction is associated with diseases including neurodegeneration and cancer. Despite their biological…
In living cells, proteins self-assemble into large functional structures based on specific interactions between molecularly complex patches. Due to this complexity, protein self-assembly results from a competition between a large number of…