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SUMMARY:Synthetic Approaches to Pattern Formation Across Scales
DTSTART:20240228T101500
DTEND:20240228T111500
DTSTAMP:20260510T022909Z
UID:5885f04f3b8f5da804e8a405db221168053bdeec9dedbecd1d8300ac
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Beatrice Ramm\, Ph.D.\, Associate Research Scholar/CPBF Fellow
 \, Center for the Physics of Biological Function\, Princeton University\,
  Princeton\, NJ (USA)\nBIOENGINEERING SEMINAR\n \nAbstract:\nA hallmark 
 of living systems is self-organized pattern formation: the partitioning of
  molecules and cells into distinct spatial domains with different function
 s. But self-organization phenomena giving rise to pattern formation exhibi
 t complex behavior that cannot be predicted from their components\, compli
 cating their investigation. To overcome this challenge\, my research emplo
 ys bottom-up and mammalian synthetic biology approaches to quantitatively 
 describe the molecular mechanisms and emergent properties of self-organizi
 ng systems. In this talk\, I will first describe how I study the pattern f
 ormation of bacterial protein systems by using in vitro reconstitution on 
 membranes. The first example is the Escherichia coli MinDE system\, which 
 positions the cell division site and has become a model for pattern format
 ion because it self-organizes into traveling surface waves and other patte
 rns when reconstituted. Using this technique\, I discovered that MinDE can
  transport unrelated “cargo” molecules via nonspecific interactions\, 
 resulting in large-scale gradients of such molecules and even their sortin
 g by size. The underlying mechanism of this transport is diffusiophoresis\
 , the transport of colloidal particles in gradients of solutes\, which may
  represent a more general transport mechanism in cells. More recently\, we
  showed that two other proteins\, the Legionella pneumophila effectors Mav
 Q and SidP\, also self-organize into dynamic patterns in vitro\, suggestin
 g that such systems are more abundant than previously thought. I will disc
 uss how the MavQ/SidP system differs from MinDE. Finally\, I will highligh
 t recent steps to probe and build cell-cell communication circuits that un
 derlie multicellular pattern formation. I focus on posttranslational circu
 its like the activation of the EGFR-ERK pathway via cell surface shedding 
 of transmembrane proligands by proteases\, which feature complex cellular 
 responses such as traveling waves. While the relevant intracellular signal
 ing pathways are well understood\, we lack the tools to probe the extracel
 lular processes. To this end\, I have designed synthetic pro-ligands with 
 various synthetic and natural domains that are cleaved off the cell surfac
 e with recombinant proteases and engineered a genetically encoded biosenso
 r for extracellular protease activity\, which will be employed to observe 
 shedding dynamics.\n\nBio:\nI received my PhD in Biochemistry from the Lud
 wig Maximilian University of Munich. I am fascinated by spatiotemporal org
 anization\, a hallmark of all living systems\, and how it arises from a mi
 xture of biochemical and purely physical and mechanical factors. In my res
 earch so far I have worked towards the mechanistic understanding of intrac
 ellular protein reaction-diffusion systems and phase separation processes 
 using experimental approaches such as in vitro reconstitution and single m
 olecule techniques. In the future\, I would like to pursue an interdiscipl
 inary approach at the interface of biochemistry\, synthetic biology and bi
 ophysics to understand spatiotemporal pattern formation across scales.\n\n
 \nZoom link for attending remotely\, if needed: https://epfl.zoom.us/j/674
 78649238
LOCATION:SV 1717 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==SV%201717 https://epfl.zoom.u
 s/j/67478649238
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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