Biophysical Society Bulletin | November 2023

Publications

Know the Editor Grace Brannigan Rutgers University

Editor’s Pick

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The Constraint, ρ 2 = x 2 + y 2 + z 2 ,implies that coordinate values are coupled

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Associate Editor Biophysical Journal

Grace Brannigan

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Biophysical Reports Model-based trajectory classification of anchored molecular motor-biopolymer interactions John B. Linehan, Gerald Alan Edwards, Vincent Boudreau, Amy Shaub Maddox, Paul S. Maddox “Asymmetric cell division is critical for creating the different cell types that constitute a multicellular organism. To ac complish asymmetric division, molecular machinery within a cell must generate a force differential between the two cell poles. Determining the location and relative strength of force generators is important but difficult to do; the dense packing of force generators, such as dynein, on the surface confounds detection of the force-generating population. To overcome this challenge, the authors developed a method to identify individual molecular units that contribute to force generation in the cell with high spatial and temporal resolution. This new approach will enable the study of the molecular regulation of force generation by anchored motor proteins and biopolymers in diverse cellular contexts.” Free Swivel p-value Avg # of Trajectories 88 58 63 48 0.02 0.17 0.04 0.006 182 111 164 103 Avg # of Trajectories p-value PP Boot Shuffle AA Measured AA Boot Shuffle PA Measured PA Boot Shuffle AP Measured AP Boot Shuffle PP Measured Pole; Mitotic Stage; Data Type 0.0034 0.002 0.0065 0.0005 80 45 56 26 130 64 135 66 Interacting Swivel Control tba-2 (RNAi) Anterior Posterior Control tba-2 (RNAi) E 0 50 100 150 200 250 p = 0.06 p = 0.17 Control tba-2 (RNAi) Anterior Posterior Control tba-2 (RNAi) # of trajectories classified Free Swivel Interacting Swivel Advance Your Career Visit the BPS Career Center to search for open positions, upload your resume to allow employers to find you, and find resources and materials to help you with career development! biophysics-jobs.careerwebsite.com Version of Record Published September 13, 2023 DOI: https:/doi.org/10.1016/j.bpr.2023.100130

What are you currently working on that excites you? I was trained as a physicist, but I get excited by messy, com plicated biological questions. I see the perception of “mess iness” as a signature of intriguing unanswered questions: What are the organizing principles underlying this system? Currently, we are working on several exciting “messes,” in cluding non-ideal binding in multiphase systems (what does binding look like when a ligand has a complicated relation ship with the solvent?) and the intrinsic modularity of long disordered proteins (we may not have helices or sheets—but is there a different sequence hierarchy that makes sense?). As in everyday life, cleaning up each of these messes requires special attention to the sticky, oily regions! What have you read lately that you found really interesting or stimulating (a paper, a book, science or not science)? Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most by members of the Harvard Negotiation Project. Like most professionals, scientists can’t avoid difficult conversations, but this book provides an approach and rationale that I think speaks well to scientists. It’s like having a protocol and trou bleshooting guide! I had just happened upon an excerpt of the new edition in a newspaper and thought to myself, “Wow! I should read this!” Once I finished the book, I was thinking, “All scientists should read this!” D Biophysical Journal Author Wins Nobel Prize The Biophysical Society congratulates Moungi G. Bawendi of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA), who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023 in October along with Louis E. Brus and Alexei I. Ekemov “for the discovery and development of quantum dots.” The Society is proud that Bawendi and coauthors published their 2010 work “Diffusion of Particles in the Extracellular Matrix: The Effect of Repulsive Electrostatic Interactions” in our flagship journal, Biophysical Journal.

Pole; Mitotic Stage; Data Type

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November 2023

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