Florian Berger: Intracellular Organization: Observing, Describing, Perturbing, and Controlling

Referent: Dr. rer. nat. Florian Berger

Assistant Professor for Theoretical Biophysics | Utrecht University, Netherlands

Affiliation:

Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Biophysics, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Center for Complex System Studies, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Abstract: 

The physical understanding of a system is based on four steps: observing, describing, perturbing, and controlling. While this strategy was very successful in studying inanimate matter in the past, it poses new challenges when applied to active living systems. In this presentation, I will explain three of our latest attempts to overcome some of these challenges: First, we promote the application of statistical models, including random fields, to connect multiplexed fluorescence images of organelles to biophysical models. These statistical models can suggest biophysically relevant length scales that are not directly visible in the images. Second, to connect molecular mechanisms of the force production of molecular motors to cellular behavior, we use physical descriptions that we implement in large-scale simulations. In particular, we show that tight regulation of the microtubule cytoskeleton by molecular motors in T cells is necessary for these cells to be activated when encountering pathogen cells. Third and lastly, we recently built a closed-loop feedback microscope to precisely control cellular and intracellular activity. We believe that the spatio-temporal control of active biological systems provides a novel way to study and understand their underlying functional principles.

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Das Bio Science Colloquium dient dem regelmäßigen Wissensaustausch im Bereich Biowissenschaften. Nationale und internationale Sprecher berichten auf dieser Plattform über hochaktuelle Forschungsergebnisse und Methoden. Die Vorträge werden auf Englisch gehalten.

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