Biophysical Newsletter - March 2014

4

BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

2014

MARCH

Biophysical Journal Corner

New & Notables

Know the Editors

Charles Wolgemuth University of Connecticut Health Center Editor for Systems Biophysics Section

The following is a list of New &Notable articles re- cently published in BJ . Visit www.biophysj.org to read these articles. SAXS/SANS probe of intermolecular interactions in concentrated protein solutions by Huan-Xiang Zhou and Osman Bilsel , which highlights the papers: Minimal Effects of Macromolecular Crowding on an Intrinsically Disordered Protein: A Small-Angle Neutron Scattering Study and Self Crowding of Globular Proteins Studied by Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering, both by David Goldberg and Brian Argyle . Star Light, Star Bright, First Molecule I See Tonight by Christopher Yip , which highlights the papers: Eliminat- ing unwanted far-field excitation in objective-type TIRF. Part I. Identifying sources of non-evanescent excitation light by Martin Oheim , Maia Brunstein , Maxime Teremetz , Karine Hérault and Christophe Tourain , and Eliminating unwanted far-field excitation in objective- type TIRF. Part II. Combined evanescent-wave ex- citation and supercritical-angle fluorescence detection improves optical sectioning by Martin Oheim , Maia Brunstein and Karine Hérault . Does Ephaptic Coupling Contribute to Propagation in Cardiac Tissue? by Bradley Roth , which highlights the paper: Microdomain Effects on Transverse Cardiac Propagation by James Keener and Joyce Lin . Mechanically guided cell migration: less of a stretch than ever by Guy Genin and Elliot Ellson , which highlights the paper: Mechanical Boundary Conditions Bias Fibroblast Invasion in a Collagen-Fibrin Wound Model by Jeffrey Holmes and Andrew Rouillard . The Berg-Purcell Limit Revisited by Sean Sun, which highlights the paper: The Berg-Purcell limit revisited by Pieter Rein ten Wolde , Kazunari Kaizu , Wiet De Ronde , Joris Paijmans , Koichi Takahashi and Filipe Tostevin .

Charles Wolgemuth

Q: What is your area of research? I am broadly interested in understanding mechanisms in biology, and it is likely my background in physics that caused me to gravitate specifically toward addressing questions about how cells move. Cellular movements play a substantial role in many areas of biology, including multi-cellularity, development, and disease. For example, many bacterial infections require that bacteria migrate to a hospitable place in the host. Our white blood cells then must be able to move to these locations to eradicate the bacteria. My group focuses on understanding how the bacterium that causes Lyme disease is able to penetrate through dense polymeric and cell-filled environments, such as the extra-cellular matrix or blood vessels, in order to infect the skin and penetrate into joints and the central nervous system of mammalian hosts. We are also investigating the biophysics of multi- cellular movements during wound healing, cancer metastasis and tissue structure formation. My scientific attitude is founded in doubt; I do not trust my own thinking. Therefore, if I am unable to frame a mechanism within a mathematical model that can quantitatively explain experiments, then I do not understand the biology. Our research approach uses mathematical models to develop hypotheses, and then test these hypotheses using quantitative experiments, typically involving imaging to watch cell movements in real-time. This combination of modeling and experiment has enabled us to develop a model that can explain the dynamics of rash forma- tion during early Lyme disease. We plunge forward to who-knows -what next.

BJ in the Press

The article Spatio- temporal Evolution of Erythema Migrans, the Hallmark Rash of Lyme Disease by Charles Wolgemuth and Dhruv Vig , is sub- ject of a recent press release issued by Cell Press. See the Febru- ary 4 issue of Biophysical Journal . High Resolution: In Vivo Optical Imaging This latest in a series of webinars pre- sented by Biophysical Journal is available online at www.biophysj.org Moderated by Dave Piston of the Vanderbilt School of Medicine