Michael Shelley (Center for Computational Biology, Flatiron Institute & Courant Institute, NYU)

Title; Self-Organization and Mechanics in the Cell

Abstract: The inside of a cell is an active place, with molecular machines busy positioning subcellular organelles, organizing themselves within membranes, or remodeling chromatin in the nucleus. I will discuss how mathematical modeling and large-scale simulations have interacted with experimental measurements and perturbations of such motor-driven biomechanical processes within the cell. This includes how the spindle finds its place in the cell, which is best treated as complex mechanical systems that works with transitory elements, and how motor activity and hydrodynamic interactions may underlie an apparently self-organizing dynamics of chromatin in the nucleus.