Bio-assembly & -organization
Group leader: Prof. dr Marileen Dogterom
The assembly, force generation and organization of cytoskeletal polymers lies at the basis of many essential cellular processes. The research objective of this group is to gain a quantitative understanding of the physics behind these cytoskeleton-based processes. This is achieved through a combination of in vitro experiments in simplified physically and biochemically controlled microfabricated environments, theoretical modelling and, increasingly, experiments in living cells. read more >>
Recent highlight
Marileen Dogterom's group has reconstituted the dynamic cell skeleton in microchambers the size of a single cell. They have demonstrated how the organisation of the skeleton is determined by small nanomachines, so-called dynein motor proteins. An understanding of this process is important for explaining phenomena such as cell division and cell movement, for example. The group of Marileen Dogterom worked together with biologists from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Harvard University, and theoreticians from the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems (MPI-PKS) in Dresden. The results of the research will be published 3 February online in the scientific journal Cell.
Reference
Liedewij Laan, Nenad Pavin, Julien Husson, Guillaume Romet-Lemonne, Martijn van Duijn, Magdalena Preciado López, Ronald D. Vale, Frank Jülicher, Samara L. Reck-Peterson, and Marileen Dogterom
Cortical Dynein Controls Microtubule Dynamics to Generate Pulling Forces that Position Microtubule Asters
Cell (2012). Online February 3, 2012. DOI:10.1016/j.cell.2012.01.007
