Reposted by @surimk92.bsky.socialSimons Foundation @simonsfoundation.org · 18/02/2026@flatironinstitute.org scientists tested a theory that treated chromosome-separating cellular structures (spindles) as active liquid crystals: www.simonsfoundation.org/2026/02/12… #science #biology 062
Reposted by @surimk92.bsky.socialSimons Foundation @simonsfoundation.org · 13/02/2026New research from @flatironinstitute.org scientists found that spindles self-organize like active liquid crystals: www.simonsfoundation.org/2026/02/12/t... #science #biologysimonsfoundation.orgThe Machinery That Helps Divide Your Cells Self-Organizes Like an Active Liquid CrystalFlatiron Institute researchers found that a theory that treats chromosome-separating cellular structures called spindles as active liquid crystals explains how they self-organize to carry out their fu... 082
surimk92.bsky.social @surimk92.bsky.social · 10/02/2026These results indicate that human metaphase spindle organization emerges from local microtubule–microtubule interactions alongside chromosome-specific interactions, with well-defined limits to continuum descriptions. 🧵6/6 000
surimk92.bsky.social @surimk92.bsky.social · 10/02/2026Furthermore, we demonstrate that there are fundamental limits to testing the theory below ~300 nm, set by the discrete nature of the microtubule network. 🧵5/6 110
surimk92.bsky.social @surimk92.bsky.social · 10/02/2026However, leveraging ET data, we were able to subset microtubules that are directly connected to chromosomes. For this chromosome-associated subpopulation, we find that their organization is shaped by additional mechanisms not captured by the simple liquid crystal theory. 🧵4/6 100
surimk92.bsky.social @surimk92.bsky.social · 10/02/2026An active liquid crystal theory based primarily on local microtubule–microtubule interactions captures key features of microtubule organization observed experimentally. 🧵3/6 100
surimk92.bsky.social @surimk92.bsky.social · 10/02/2026To our knowledge, this work provides the first rigorous test of the active liquid crystal framework at spatial resolutions approaching the mean microtubule spacing, using data from both live-cell microscopy and electron tomography (ET). 🧵2/6 100
surimk92.bsky.social @surimk92.bsky.social · 10/02/2026Our work on studying the organization of the human metaphase spindle is now published in PNAS 🎉🎉 pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... Joint work with Colm Kelleher under the #CCBx initiative @flatironinstitute.org 🧵1/6pnas.orgPNASProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans... 111
surimk92.bsky.social @surimk92.bsky.social · 18/09/2025Accepted to #NeurIPS25! 🥳 Big congrats to Stephen !! glad to be part of it @flatironinstitute.org 012
surimk92.bsky.social @surimk92.bsky.social · 11/09/2025Excited to share our paper on learning stochastic processes from cross-sectional biological data, now out in @pnas.org 🎉 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...pnas.orgPNASProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans... 011
surimk92.bsky.social @surimk92.bsky.social · 31/07/20255/5 In summary, even in complex cellular organelles like the spindle, active-matter physics combined with carefully measured data yields predictive theories. 000
surimk92.bsky.social @surimk92.bsky.social · 31/07/20254/5 Our model reveals that spindle organization is governed by: local MT alignment interaction, diffusive-like motion, directed transport & MT turnover dynamics, all encoded in our continuum theory with interpretable and measurable parameters. 101
surimk92.bsky.social @surimk92.bsky.social · 31/07/20253/5 We demonstrate that a simple coarse-grained active liquid crystal model can quantitatively explain both the mean structure and fluctuation spectra of the spindle microtubule network. 101
surimk92.bsky.social @surimk92.bsky.social · 31/07/20252/5 How do thousands of microtubules and associated proteins self-organize into the mitotic mammalian spindle ? We combine detailed static ultrastructural data from electron tomography with dynamic polarization microscopy 🔬 measurements to find out. 110
surimk92.bsky.social @surimk92.bsky.social · 31/07/2025🧵1/5 Excited to share our new paper: "Active Liquid Crystal Theory Explains the Collective Organization of Microtubules in Human Mitotic Spindles". Joint work with Colm Kelleher (now at Syracuse, previously Harvard) @flatironinstitute.org arxiv.org/abs/2507.22273 143
surimk92.bsky.social @surimk92.bsky.social · 21/05/2025🚀Excellent follow-up by Stephen extending Probability Flow Inference to account for cell proliferation. SOTA performance on time-resolved scRNA-seq to infer transcriptional flow dynamics. In short: inverting the Fokker-Planck in 10–20D with cell growth @ arxiv.org/pdf/2505.13197arxiv.org 000
Reposted by @surimk92.bsky.socialYoung Biophysicists Meeting @youngbiophymeet.bsky.social · 02/05/2025Mark your calendars!! 🗓️ The third Young Biophysicists Meeting will be held on the coming Monday (May 5th) from 11am - 12pm EST. We have four exciting talks lined up for you, see you all soon! Find out more : shorturl.at/4oKNe 1118
Reposted by @surimk92.bsky.socialFlatiron Institute @flatironinstitute.org · 31/03/2025A new theoretical model developed by #FlatironCCB scientist @henryhmattingly.bsky.social predicts how bacteria disperse in crowded spaces, opening the door for strategies to control their spread. Read more: www.simonsfoundation.org/2025/03/21/n... #science #biology 152
surimk92.bsky.social @surimk92.bsky.social · 11/02/2025Existing biophysics summer school in Greece !! please forward this to anyone interested.. 010
