Research Assistant Professor
Research Interests:
I am a biophysicist whose former research area was the theoretical description
and modeling of complex macromolecular systems. Recently I became fascinated
by the experimental cell biology and microscopy and my work is mostly concentrated
on the development of complex (theoretical and experimental) model of the phenomenon
of oscillating cells.
About our project: An important property of all cells is their ability to sense
and respond to their environment that often involves large-scale changes in cell
morphology. Key components of the cytoskeleton that mediate these responses are
the actomyosin and microtubule systems. Nearly all aspects of cytoskeletal dynamics
are tightly controlled by a network of signaling proteins that include the Rho
family of small GTPases. These proteins play central roles in regulating the
actin cortex, the filamentous, actin-based meshwork that lies adjacent to the
cell membrane. As a model system for investigating cytoskeletal dynamics, we
focus on the morphological oscillations that occur after cell rounding. Remarkably,
these oscillations are strongly amplified when microtubules are disrupted. Modern
light microscopy gives us the unprecedented capability to visualize the dynamic
location of cytoskeletal proteins and the activities of signaling molecules that
we believe are important for the oscillatory phenotype.
The goal of our project is creating a complex model of oscillation phenomenon
which tightly integrates quantitative experimental measurements in live cells
with computational analyses and gives us a system-level understanding how signaling
networks, cytoskeleton, and membrane coordinate their work dynamically and spatially
across the whole cell.