Weekly BioEngineering Talks (Lunch Provided)
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\r\nINVITED SPEAKER:
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\r\nAdvancing Multidimensional Single-Molecule localization microscopy: development and applications in nuclear organization
\r\nDr. Bassam Hajj, Institut Curie, Paris
\r\nHost: Prof. Aleksandra Radenovic
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\r\nAbstract:
\r\nSingle-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) has revolutionized our understanding of biological processes by providing access to spatial scales beyond the diffraction limit of conventional optical microscopy. In the study of the cell nucleus, SMLM has offered unique insights into its organization and function at the nanoscale. Nuclear architecture is structured across multiple spatial scales in three dimensions and is highly dynamic. Understanding the mechanisms that govern nuclear organization therefore requires imaging approaches capable of capturing molecular dynamics across a broad range of spatial and temporal scales and in diverse biological contexts. Although SMLM can routinely achieve spatial resolutions in the tens-of-nanometers range, many biologically relevant structures and processes remain beyond its reach. For example, resolving the precise organization of DNA at the molecular scale remains challenging, as it would require a substantial improvement in spatial resolution over conventional SMLM, while also addressing the high density and degree of molecular compaction within the nucleus.
\r\nOver the years, we have developed complementary strategies to address these challenges by introducing additional dimensions and observables into SMLM measurements. In this presentation, I will first discuss our approaches to three-dimensional single-molecule imaging, including multifocus microscopy and volumetric light-sheet excitation, which enable fast and sensitive imaging over extended volumes and in complex biological samples such as cell colonies. While these approaches provide access to the three-dimensional and temporal dimensions required to investigate nuclear organization, spatial resolution alone is not always sufficient to distinguish molecular arrangements. We have therefore extended SMLM further by implementing polarization-resolved multifocus microscopy (PolMFM), which combines three-dimensional localization with information on molecular orientation.
\r\nI will illustrate how these multidimensional approaches can provide new insights into nuclear organization, with examples spanning different biological systems. In particular, I will present evidence for a long-range, crystal-like organization of DNA within the nuclei of mature sperm cells from crickets, demonstrating how multidimensional imaging can reveal structural features that remain inaccessible to conventional localization microscopy.
\r\nFinally, I will discuss the challenges and opportunities associated with visualizing, analyzing, and interactively exploring the multidimensional datasets generated by these approaches. Together, these developments illustrate how extending SMLM beyond conventional two-dimensional localization can provide new ways to interrogate the organization and dynamics of biological systems at the nanoscale.
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\r\nBio:
\r\nBassam Hajj is a physicist and CNRS researcher at Institut Curie in Paris, where he is a member of the Physics of Cells and Cancer unit and co-leads the “Light-based Observation and Control of Cellular Organization” team. His research focuses on the development of advanced optical microscopy techniques, particularly single-molecule localization microscopy, 3D imaging, and multidimensional approaches for studying cellular organization at the nanoscale.
\r\nAfter completing his PhD at École Normale Supérieure de Cachan on electro-optical microscopy, Bassam joined Janelia Research Campus as a postdoctoral researcher, where he worked on multifocus microscopy for fast and sensitive single-molecule imaging. He subsequently returned to Institut Curie and joined the CNRS as a permanent researcher in 2016.
\r\nHis current research combines innovative microscopy, quantitative image analysis, and data visualization to investigate molecular organization and dynamics, with a particular focus on nuclear organization.
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\r\nSTUDENT SPEAKER:
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\r\nTranscription Factor Dose in Stem Cell Reprogramming: Insights from Single-Cell Multi-Omics
\r\nAngelika Gebhart, Deplancke Lab
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\r\nBioEngineering Talks mandatory EDBB Seminar Attendance (1st-Year PhD Students)\r\n
Weekly BioEngineering Talks (Lunch Provided)
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\r\nINVITED SPEAKER:
\r\nFrom single-molecule biophysics with Graphene Energy Transfer to Brownian DNA computing
\r\nProf. Dr. Philip Tinnefeld, LMU Munich
\r\nHost: Prof. Aleksandra Radenovic
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\r\nAbstract:
\r\nGraphene-on-glass coverslips are an emerging microscopy platform as resonant energy transfer to graphene offers an axial ruler in the 5-40 nm range. I present single molecule biophysics experiments of protein/DNA interactions using Graphene Energy Transfer (GET) in combination with the discovery that dsDNA adopts a vertical orientation on graphene. Axial information of DNA structure and protein positions is deduced from GET-efficiency and xy-information is obtained e.g. by photon-efficient pMINFLUX revealing simultaneous bending and torsion of enzyme induced DNA conformations. Finally, I discuss how multi-color smFRET with dark quenchers probes states of DNA nanorobots and Brownian DNA computers that work close to the thermodynamic optimum.
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\r\nBio:
\r\nPhilip Tinnefeld is a Professor of Physical Chemistry at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, leading a highly interdisciplinary NanoBioSciences research group that brings together molecular biology, biophysics, nanophotonics, and physical chemistry. He specialises in single-molecule detection and super-resolution microscopy, and he uses DNA origami to build modular nanoscale devices—such as force sensors, fluorescence amplifiers, and molecular robots—that can sense, compute, and respond autonomously. Under his leadership, the lab is also developing advanced biosensing platforms and imaging tools by combining DNA nanotechnology with 2D materials like graphene, pushing the frontiers of how we observe and control biological processes at the molecular level.
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\r\nSTUDENT SPEAKER:
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\r\nUnderstanding oxidative stress response in animals - a case study of the essential enzyme adenosylhomocysteinase, AHCY
\r\nYong-Qi Gao, Zenk Lab
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\r\nBioEngineering Talks mandatory EDBB Seminar Attendance (1st-Year PhD Students)\r\n
We are pleased to invite you to the first Cogito Lunch event, a new series building on the tradition of LUNCHenPHILO / L’heure H, those philosophical interludes that have been part of some of our lunch breaks since 2021.
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\r\nOrganized by the Vice-Presidency for Education (VPE), these sessions aim to foster dialogue between experts from various disciplines and the campus community, particularly students. We hope, therefore, to explore ideas and questions that stimulate our imagination, challenge our sensibilities, and shed light on our fears and expectations. The discussions will be moderated by journalist Anne Laure Gannac.
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\r\nFor the session on Thursday, November 5, we’ll tackle a question that is as fascinating as it is mind-boggling: “When does consciousness begin?” Neuroscience, machine learning, and the humanities will come together to try to answer it.
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\r\nThe discussion is open with:\r\n
This paper studies optimal financial flexibility in debt issuance. A borrower raises funds for an initial investment and may need financing after observing a private liquidity shock. Under non exclusive lending, new lenders price only their claims, so additional borrowing dilutes existing debt and leads to excessive leverage. The optimal simple debt contract is an endogenous debt limit. It captures the intertemporal commitment–flexibility tradeoff: more borrowing today fi nances investment but increases dilution incentives, requiring tighter limits on future borrowing. Richer clauses, including performance-sensitive debt and contingent prepayment provisions, re store the exclusive-lending benchmark by compensating existing lenders when new financing is raised.
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