生物物理
The feedback between mechanical and chemical signals plays a key role in controlling many biological processes and collective cell behavior. Here we focus on the emergence of spatiotemporal density waves in a one-dimensional "cell train."…
The inner membrane of mitochondria presents folds, the cristae, which are the production place of ATP. This synthesis is driven by a flow of protons confined to the surface of the membrane, which also shapes the crista to ensure a high…
Monoclonal antibodies (mAb) represent an important class of biologic therapeutics that can treat a variety of diseases including cancer, autoimmune disorders or respiratory conditions (e.g. COVID-19). However, throughout their development,…
T1 transitions, which are localised cell rearrangements, play an important role in the fluidization of epithelial monolayers. Using a multi-phase field model and an active elastic solid model, we show that although each cell undergoes T1…
Templated copolymerization, in which information stored in the sequence of a heteropolymer template is copied into another polymer product, is the mechanism behind all known methods of genetic information transfer. A key aspect of templated…
Ever since the ground breaking work of Trepat et al. in 2009, we know that cell colonies growing on a substrate can be under tensile mechanical stress. The origin of tension has so far been attributed to cellular motility forces being…
A notable feature of the elephant trunk is the pronounced wrinkling that enables its great flexibility. Here, we devise a general mathematical model that accounts for the characteristic skin wrinkles formed during morphogenesis in the…
Flagellar motors enable bacteria to navigate their environments by switching rotation direction in response to external cues with high sensitivity. Previous work suggested that ultrasensitivity of the flagellar motor originates from…
Living systems rely on coordinated molecular interactions, especially those related to gene expression and protein activity. The Unfolded Protein Response is a crucial mechanism in eukaryotic cells, activated when unfolded proteins exceed a…
Bristled and membranous insect wings have co-evolved despite apparently serving the same functionality. We emulate flight physics using an automated free-fall experiment to better understand how and why several distinct wing forms may have…
Motions of visually coupled zebrafish pairs are studied to understand the effects of information exchange on their behavior as a function of their minimal separation ($d$). We find that when $d$ is small, the pair can display a…
Gene expression patterns (GEPs) are established by cross-regulating target genes that interpret morphogen gradients. However, as development progresses, morphogen activity is reduced, leaving the emergent GEP without stabilizing positional…
This study presents the direct measurement of proton transport along filamentous Desulfobulbaceae, or cable bacteria. Cable bacteria are filamentous multicellular microorganisms that have garnered much interest due to their ability to serve…
We study the effect of transcription on the kinetics of DNA supercoiling in 3D by means of Brownian dynamics simulations of a single nucleotide resolution coarse-grained model for double stranded DNA. By accounting for the action of a…
Plants respond to biotic and abiotic stresses through complex and dynamic mechanisms that integrate physical, chemical, and biological cues. Here, we present a multi-physics platform designed to systematically investigate these responses…
The spatial organization of DNA involves DNA loop extrusion and the formation of protein-DNA condensates. While the significance of each process is increasingly recognized, their interplay remains unexplored. Using molecular dynamics…
The spike protein (SP) of SARS-CoV-2 is the major molecular target for making diagnostic tests, vaccines, and therapeutic development. We used a combination of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and surface enhanced Raman microscopy…
The development of multicellular organisms relies on the precise coordination of molecular events across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Understanding how information flows from molecular interactions to cellular processes and tissue…
We consider the problem of olfactory searches in a turbulent environment. We focus on agents that respond solely to odor stimuli, with no access to spatial perception nor prior information about the odor. We ask whether navigation to a…
About 4 billion years ago, the Earth probably fulfilled the environmental conditions necessary to favour the transition from primitive chemistry to life. Based on a theoretical hairpin duplication origin of tRNAs and their putative…