is multifaceted project aims at understanding the physical basis for various cell activities that involve structural changes in supramolecular biomolecular complexes. Recent emphasis has been on explaining how protein coats affect the processes by which cell membranes pinch off to form small vesicles, e.g., in receptor mediated endocytosis. Related studies include: 1) an investigation of the properties of lipid extracts of cell membranes, the goal being to better understand subtle phase changes that seem to occur in these materials near the growth temperatures of the organisms from which the lipids are obtained; 2) an ancillary investigation of ways to improve light scattering characterizations of extruded lipid vesicles similar to those often used in membrane biophysics measurements or as vehicles for drug delivery; 3) development and application of neutron scattering techniques to study the structure and dynamics of macromolecular assemblies such as tubulin polymers and clathrin complexes; and 4) providing a theoretical framework to understand certain global assays for cell rigidity. The overall, long-term purpose is to build and use an arsenal of physical tools, both theoretical and experimental, to study kinetic aspects of critical cell supramolecular processes, and to increase knowledge of ways those activities can be mediated by external interventions.
| Galanis, Jennifer; Nossal, Ralph; Harries, Daniel (2010) Depletion forces drive polymer-like self-assembly in vibrofluidized granular materials. Soft Matter 6:1026-1034 |
| Ferguson, Matthew L; Prasad, Kondury; Boukari, Hacene et al. (2008) Clathrin triskelia show evidence of molecular flexibility. Biophys J 95:1945-55 |
| Boukari, Hacene; Sackett, Dan L; Schuck, Peter et al. (2007) Single-walled tubulin ring polymers. Biopolymers 86:424-36 |
| Svitel, Juraj; Boukari, Hacene; Van Ryk, Donald et al. (2007) Probing the functional heterogeneity of surface binding sites by analysis of experimental binding traces and the effect of mass transport limitation. Biophys J 92:1742-58 |
| Michelman-Ribeiro, Ariel; Horkay, Ferenc; Nossal, Ralph et al. (2007) Probe diffusion in aqueous poly(vinyl alcohol) solutions studied by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. Biomacromolecules 8:1595-600 |
| Jin, Albert J; Prasad, Kondury; Smith, Paul D et al. (2006) Measuring the elasticity of clathrin-coated vesicles via atomic force microscopy. Biophys J 90:3333-44 |
| Michelman-Ribeiro, Ariel; Nossal, Ralph; Morris, Ryan et al. (2006) Electrolysis induces gradients and domain orientation in agarose gels. Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys 73:011410 |
| Barr, Valarie A; Balagopalan, Lakshmi; Barda-Saad, Mira et al. (2006) T-cell antigen receptor-induced signaling complexes: internalization via a cholesterol-dependent endocytic pathway. Traffic 7:1143-62 |
| Ferguson, Matthew L; Prasad, Kondury; Sackett, Dan L et al. (2006) Conformation of a clathrin triskelion in solution. Biochemistry 45:5916-22 |
| Skupsky, R; Losert, W; Nossal, R J (2005) Distinguishing modes of eukaryotic gradient sensing. Biophys J 89:2806-23 |
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