Cell biophysics : from phase diagrams to phase portraits - POSTPONED TO SEPTEMBER 2023 !!

Cell functions such as motility and division can be studied with the use of stripped-down experimental systems by choosing carefully a limited number of purified proteins that reproduce cellular behaviours in simplified and controlled conditions. 

As an example, cytoskeleton dynamics are reproduced on liposome membranes , (Figure 1) and soft matter variables, such as membrane tension and the structural details of the cytoskeleton architecture are tuned. Movements and deformations can be described by models inspired by soft matter physics and gathered in phase diagrams depending on the parameters of the systems. I will present a few examples including inward and outward membrane deformations generated by actin dynamics , and buckling/wrinkling of liposomes under osmotic deflation .

Studying the whole cell behaviour is an alternative approach to reconstituted systems to study cell motility. I will present some preliminary results on our new project at ENS on the nucleus-cytoskeleton organisation during cell motility under controlled confinement that we study using an inference method derived from a Langevin equation analysis approach.