BPS2025 Full Program

3:30 PM – 5:00 PM Mad City Labs Inc Applications of Single Molecule Microscopy: Development Signaling to Sustainability Efforts This session will feature research performed using single molecule microscopy techniques. Penn State researchers will describe employing single molecule microscopy techniques to solve problems related to biofuels and microplastics, while research from UT Austin will demonstrate the potential of single-cell, single-molecule biochemistry for understanding developmental signaling. Applying Single-Molecule Microscopy Techniques to Sustainability Research Speakers: William Hancock, Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Daguan Nong, Assistant Research Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University Two pillars in sustainability research are using cellulase enzyme to generate biofuels from lignocellulose feedstocks, and developing enzymes that can degrade plastic waste. In this talk, we will describe biophysics research toward these goals that uses a custom-built Total Internal Reflection Flurorescence (TIRF) and Interferometric Scattering (IRM) microscope. Cellulases extract a strand from crystalline cellulose and processively degrade it. By imaging quantum dot labeled Cel7 cellulase enzymes, we are able to observe enzymes landing on immobilized cellulose, moving at ~3 s-1 for tens of nm. PETases, discovered in 2016, degrade polyethylene terephthalate. We are investigating the reversible binding kinetics of Qdot-labeld PETase enzymes to infer their catalytic mechanism. These projects demonstrate how single-molecule microscopy can be applied to sustainability research. Multivalent Assembly of PAR-3/aPKC Complexes Establishes Cell Polarity in C. elegans zygotes Speaker: Sheng-Ping Hsu, Graduate Student (Dickinson Lab), University of Texas - Austin Protein-protein interactions drive cell signaling and behavior. Studying these interactions in vitro is laborious and does not capture the cellular context where interactions occur. We utilize single-cell, single-molecule techniques to examine protein interactions in vivo. Here we present our unpublished work on cell polarity proteins in C. elegans. Using rapid single-cell lysis and single-molecule pull-down, we discovered cooperative assembly and oligomerization of a key polarity complex. We used near-TIRF imaging with chimeric labeling in living embryos to verify that the cooperativity occurs in vivo. Moreover, we integrate mutants, knockdowns, and drug treatments to determine that cooperativity results from multivalency and is essential for normal development. Overall, this study demonstrates the potential of single-cell, single-molecule biochemistry for understanding developmental signaling.

5:30 PM – 7:00 PM LUMICKS

Democratizing Dynamic Single Molecule Analysis: Advancing Biological Understanding through C-Trap™ Technology and Showcasing Discoveries from Early-Career Scientists Dynamic single-molecule research has revolutionized our understanding of biology by providing crucial insights into key molecular and cellular mechanisms, such as DNA repair, protein dynamics, and phase separation processes, among others. However, this field of science has traditionally been accessible only to experts capable of building and operating complex home-built instruments, able to produce specific DNA or protein samples, and developing sophisticated algorithms for correct single-molecule data analysis and interpretation. To democratize access to single-molecule technologies, LUMICKS introduced the C-Trap™ as the first instrument of its kind which uniquely combines optical tweezers, single-molecule fluorescence, and automated microfluidics. This combination allows the correlation of single-molecule force and fluorescence measurements in real-time to enable the investigation of dynamic molecular mechanisms with a ready-to-go instrument. Here, we will introduce the C-Trap™, look forward to future developments continuing the democratization of the technology, and also look back on the last year and celebrate impactful dynamic single molecule science from the last year. We will also provide a platform for two early-career scientists to share their exciting work using the C-Trap™. Kacey Mersch, a post-doc from the Lohman lab at WUSTL, will present and discuss his work titled “Single stranded DNA translocation and DNA helicase activities of Mycobacterium tuberculosis UvrD1 Dimers”. This work utilizes the unique capabilities of the C-Trap™ to dissect the mechanism of a dimeric UvrD-family helicase (UvrD1). Yukun Wang, a postdoc from the Laboratory of Nanoscale Biophysics and Biochemistry at Rockefeller University, will present and discuss his work titled “Using the C-Trap™ technology to visualize eukaryotic transcription at the single-molecule level” where the C-Trap™ enables directly measuring details of the transcription process that have been elusive with bulk measurements. Join us to learn more about dynamic single molecule science, future C-Trap™ developments, and for a celebration of single molecule science from the last year! Speakers Kacey Mersch, Postdoctoral Scholar, Washington University St. Louis Trey Simpson, Principal Scientist, LUMICKS Yukun Wang, Postdoctoral Scholar, The Rockefeller University

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