Biophysical Society Bulletin | December 2020

Publications

Know the BJ Editor Samrat Mukhopadhyay

organelles that are thought to control critical cellular func- tions. We are setting out to ask a few key questions about phase transitions of a range of neuronal IDPs. How does the dynamic interplay of chain-chain and chain-water interac- tions give rise to these liquid-like condensates? What are the key regulators of internal fluidity, diffusion, and viscosi- ty? Can we control the formation, dissolution, gelation, and solidification of these liquid droplets under the physiological condition? What are the molecular determinants of the permeability and the internal material property? How do the polypeptide chains commingle within the condensates to get sequestered and dynamically arrested resulting in pathological liquid-to-solid or amyloid-like transitions? An- swers to these questions will allow us to better understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms of biological phase transitions associated with cell physiology and neurodegen- erative diseases. Who would you like to sit next to at a dinner party? Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, and their fictional detectives, Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, and Sherlock Holmes. After all, scientists are detectives as well as writers!

Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali Editor, Proteins

Samrat Mukhopadhyay

What are you currently working on that excites you? My lab and I love dynamics. We are aficionados of intrin- sically disordered proteins (IDPs). IDPs lack well-defined shape and are highly dynamic protein chameleons. Their wiggling and jiggling fascinate us. We are intrigued by the coupled polypeptide chain and hydration water dynamics that govern the assembly and function of IDPs. In my lab, we are prying into some of these exciting dynamic assem- blies formed via liquid-liquid phase separation of IDPs. Intracellular phase transitions of highly dynamic proteins and nucleic acids result in the formation of membrane-less

Call for Papers: Teaching and Learning during COVID-19 Deadline for submissions: January 27, 2021

As the world continues to change and adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic, many professions have been impacted. Some of the most extensive and challenging changes have occurred in education and in science. The Biophysicist , as the Biophysical Society open access journal of biophysics education, invites the submission of papers for a special issue on how COVID-19 has impacted and changed teaching and learning during the pandemic. The journal editors welcome papers that address online teaching, virtual and hybrid labs, remote teaching tools, distance research, and adapting teaching modules for the science of COVID-19. In addition, we also encourage reports that describe bio- physics educational materials that use COVID-19 as an example to highlight biophysical principles. For full informa- tion, please visit https:/www.biophysics.org/Portals/0/BPSAssets/Publications/Documents/TBP_COVID_CFP.pdf.

Journal Webpage and Submission site: www.thebiophysicist.org

Questions on article content: Contact Editor-in-Chief, Sam.Safran@weizmann.ac.il

December 2020

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