通俗演講 Colloquium

Title

如何在生命系統中協調拓撲結構：一種新的生物物理學觀點
How to coordinate topology in living systems: a new biophysics perspective

Speaker

郭青齡博士 (中央研究院物理研究所)

Dr. Chin-Lin Guo (Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica)

Abstract

In our bodies, the topology of cells and tissues, i.e., how they are spatially distributed and how they partition signaling activity in the three-dimensional space, links tightly to biological functions. Failure of proper topology control leads to diseases such as organ degeneration and tumor progression. For decades, the dogma for topology control in living systems has been the interactions of diffusive chemicals. It is suggested that the dynamic instability of interacting chemicals can form spatiotemporal patterns to guide the assembly of intracellular cytoskeleton, the mechanical output of which, shapes cell and tissue topology, thereby determining cell fate and functional performance. Conversely, little is known about whether the topology can spontaneously emerge through the mechanical instability of cytoskeleton, and in turn patterns chemical signals. Here, we present two studies to show that multicellular coordination of topology can spontaneously emerge through steric hindrance of cytoskeleton in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (an important step in organogenesis, healing, and tumor invasion), and that apicobasal polarity (an essential element for organ development and tumor suppression) can de novo form from mechanical self-partitioning of cytoskeletal components before the onset of chemical patterning. Our results highlight not only a new biophysics perspective to organ homeostasis and regeneration, but also a potential paradigm-shifting strategy to suppress aberrant cell behavior such as malignancy.

Poster Download:

Language

演講語言 (Language): in English

Hosted by

林耿慧 研究員
Lin, Keng-hui / Research Fellow