Browsing Faculty of Arts and Sciences by Keyword "biophysics"
Now showing items 1-20 of 35
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Biophysical and Molecular Determinants in Cell Tension-Mediated Fibronectin Unfolding that Drive Fibrillogenesis
(2013-02-20)Assembly of the extracellular matrix (ECM) protein fibronectin (FN) is a mechanical process that involves cell binding to FN through cell surface integrin receptors and application of tensional forces generated in the ... -
Charge as a Selection Criterion for Translocation through the Nuclear Pore Complex
(Public Library of Science, 2010)Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) are highly selective filters that control the exchange of material between nucleus and cytoplasm. The principles that govern selective filtering by NPCs are not fully understood. Previous ... -
Designing and Probing Open Quantum Systems: Quantum Annealing, Excitonic Energy Transfer, and Nonlinear Fluorescence Spectroscopy
(2012-07-27)The 20th century saw the first revolution of quantum mechanics, setting the rules for our understanding of light, matter, and their interaction. The 21st century is focused on using these quantum mechanical laws to develop ... -
DNA Characterization with Solid-State Nanopores and Combined Carbon Nanotube across Solid-State Nanopore Sensors
(2013-02-08)A DNA molecule passing through a nanopore in a liner and sequential fashion allows for unprecedented interrogation of the polymer. Adding transverse electrodes that are comparable in size and sensitive to the DNA molecule, ... -
DNA Origami Nanoparticles for Cell Delivery: The Effect of Shape and Surface Functionalization on Cell Internalization
(2012-09-14)An outstanding challenge in modern medicine is the safe and efficient delivery of drugs. One approach to improve drug delivery yield and increase specificity towards diseased cells, is to employ a drug carrier to facilitate ... -
Excitability Constraints on Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels
(Public Library of Science, 2007)We study how functional constraints bound and shape evolution through an analysis of mammalian voltage-gated sodium channels. The primary function of sodium channels is to allow the propagation of action potentials. Since ... -
The Facilitation of Protein-DNA Search and Recognition by Multiple Modes of Binding
(2012-12-12)The studies discussed in this thesis unify experimental and theoretical techniques, both established and novel, in investigating the problem of how a protein that binds specific sites on DNA translocates to, recognizes, ... -
Force Sensitivity of the Von Willebrand Factor A2 Domain
(2012-11-13)Von Willebrand factor (VWF) is a multimeric glycoprotein that critically supports platelet aggregation in hemostasis. Disordered VWF function causes both thrombotic and bleeding disorders, and genetic defects in VWF are ... -
From Womb to Doom: Mechanical Regulation of Cardiac Tissue Assembly in Morphogenesis and Pathogenesis
(2013-02-14)The assembly, form, and function of the heart is regulated by complex mechanical signals originating from intrinsic and extrinsic sources, such as the cytoskeleton and the extracellular matrix. During development, mechanical ... -
Mechanisms of Membrane Disruption by Viral Entry Proteins
(2013-02-15)To enter and infect cells, viruses must overcome the barrier presented by the cell membrane. Enveloped viruses, which possess their own lipid bilayer, fuse their viral membrane with the cell membrane. Non-enveloped viruses, ... -
A Model for Genetic and Epigenetic Regulatory Networks Identifies Rare Pathways for Transcription Factor Induced Pluripotency
(Public Library of Science, 2010)With relatively low efficiency, differentiated cells can be reprogrammed to a pluripotent state by ectopic expression of a few transcription factors. An understanding of the mechanisms that underlie data emerging from such ... -
Optogenetics and Computer Vision for C. elegans Neuroscience and Other Biophysical Applications
(2012-07-19)This work presents optogenetics and real-time computer vision techniques to non-invasively manipulate and monitor neural activity with high spatiotemporal resolution in awake behaving Caenorhabditis elegans. These methods ... -
Order and Stochastic Dynamics in Drosophila Planar Cell Polarity
(Public Library of Science, 2009)Cells in the wing blade of Drosophila melanogaster exhibit an in-plane polarization causing distal orientation of hairs. Establishment of the Planar Cell Polarity (PCP) involves intercellular interactions as well as a ... -
Photoswitchable Fluorescent Probes for Localization-Based Super-Resolution Imaging
(2013-02-21)In recent years, localization-based super-resolution imaging has been developed to overcome the diffraction limit of far-field fluorescence microscopy. Photoswitchable probes are a hallmark of this technique. Their ... -
Physical Models for the Early Evolution of Cell Membranes
(2012-11-14)Cells use lipid membranes to organize and define their chemical environments. All cell membranes are based on a common structure: bilayers composed of phospholipids with two hydrocarbon chains. How did biology converge on ... -
Probing Dynein and Kinesin Stepping with Mechanical Manipulation in a Living Cell
(Wiley-Blackwell, 2009)Molecular motors: By combining optical tweezers and high-speed particle tracking, individual steps of microtubule motor proteins transporting organelles can be detected under known force loads in living mammalian cells ... -
Problems at the Nexus of Geometry and Soft Matter: Rings, Ribbons and Shells
(2012-08-17)There has been an increasing appreciation of the role in which elasticity plays in soft matter. The understanding of many shapes and conformations of complex systems during equilibrium or non-equilibrium processes, ranging ... -
Quantifying Localizations and Dynamics in Single Bacterial Cells
(2012-11-19)Levels of macromolecules fluctuate both spatially and temporally in individual cells. Such heterogeneity could be exploited for bet hedging in uncertain environments, or be suppressed by negative feedback if perturbations ... -
Regulation of Microtubule Dynamics by Molecular Motors
(2013-02-26)Kinesin superfamily motors have a well-characterized ability to move along microtubules and transport cargo. However, some members of the kinesin superfamily can also remodel microtubule networks by controlling tubulin ... -
Reinforcement versus Fluidization in Cytoskeletal Mechanoresponsiveness
(Public Library of Science, 2009)Every adherent eukaryotic cell exerts appreciable traction forces upon its substrate. Moreover, every resident cell within the heart, great vessels, bladder, gut or lung routinely experiences large periodic stretches. As ...