BUILDING BRIDGES ON QUANTITATIVE BIOLOGY
JOINT SEMINAR SERIES
INSTITUTE FOR MOLECULAR AND CELL BIOLOGY | CENTER OF MATHEMATICS UNIVERSITY PORTO

An interdisciplinary seminar that aims to focus on research to gain a deeper understanding of biological processes based on quantitative (mathematical) and computational approaches to analyze and integrate biological systems to provide a multi-disciplinary forum for a broad blend of researchers in biology, mathematics, physics and computational sciences.

  NEXT SEMINAR 

  12 MARCH 2015 | 17H00 | ANFITEATRO 0.31 DEP MATEMATICA FCUP  
  Mechanics of the contractile ring during cytokinesis   
  Ana Carvalho (IBMC)  

Cytokinesis requires the assembly and constriction of a contractile ring at the equator of the mother cell. The contractile ring is an acto-myosin filamentous structure which constricts while bringing behind it the plasma membrane, generating a physical barrier between the two daughter cells. The ring is thought to constrict via the action of myosin motor activity that slides actin filaments past one another and actin filament depolymerization.

The whole process of assembly and constriction of the ring takes 6 minutes in our system. Due to the contractile ring highly transient and dynamic nature, the understanding of its mechanics is challenging and yet poorly understood.

Mathematical models exist but suffer from a lack of quantitative in vivo data. They generally use parameters from in vitro data obtained from a mix of experimental setups/ molecules of different organisms. The aim of our lab is to gather quantitative information about the dynamic behavior of contractile ring components, the roles of actin filament dynamics, myosin II motility, and actin regulators during contractile ring constriction, as well as about the ultra-structural organization of the contractile ring. We expect that these parameters, all derived from the same experimental system, will allow us to significantly improve our understanding of the mechanics of the contractile ring as well as develop computational models aimed at recapitulating the process of contractile ring assembly and constriction. To generate new models, whose predictions we will be able to test in our highly tractable experimental system, we are currently seeking to establish collaborations with mathematicians and biophysicists.

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