CCB Brown Bag Seminar

SPEAKERS:

Victor Chardès, Ph.D., Flatiron Research Fellow, Biophysical Modeling and Genomics 

BIOPHYSICAL FLOW MODELS FOR SINGLE-CELL OMICS DATA:Single-cell omics methods such as single-cell RNA-seq and ATAC-seq have enabled high-throughput, molecular-scale measurements of biological processes in individual cells. However, the high-dimensionality, stochasticity, and cross-sectional nature of these measurements hinders their integration with biophysical models of cell division, cell death, gene transcription, or chromatin dynamics. I will outline a research direction aimed at bridging this gap by combining flow-based generative AI approaches with biophysical models of gene regulation. The long-term goal is to reverse-engineer the cellular machinery that determines cell fate, based on biophysical principles.

Mahsa Mofidi, Ph.D., Flatiron Research Fellow, Structural & Molecular Biophysics

HOW MULTIPLE AMPHIPATHIC HELIX DOMAINS COOPERATE IN BINDING TO LIPID MEMBRANE: Septins are a widely conserved family of cytoskeletal proteins and the first eukaryotic proteins known to sense micron-scale membrane curvature. This function is mediated by Amphipathic Helix (AH) domains within septin oligomers. Using Molecular Dynamics simulations, we examine how single and paired AHs interact with lipid bilayers. Our results reveal cooperative interactions that enhance membrane affinity, where the presence of a bound AH provides bidirectional interactions for the unbound peptide. These findings suggest that protein-protein interactions between AHs are strong enough to facilitate cooperative binding in septin oligomers, shedding light on the mechanistic role of AH domains in septin-membrane interactions.