Several papers from the lab were published in the past few months.
- In collaboration with the labs of Dragomir Milovanovic, Zhiping Pang, Jean Baum, and Conor McClenaghan, Huan and Mengying developed and optimized MAPAC, a powerful technique that allows direct mechanical quantification of condensates in live cells! We found that the partitioning of α-synuclein directly regulates the viscoelasticity of cellular synapsin condensates. As a bonus, we also explained why cellular condensates can be very different from those reconstituted in vitro!
Read the paper here, and also check out Rutgers’ news report. - In collaboration with Hao Lin’s lab in Rutgers Engineering, Sajad and Huan studied the relation between cadherin-based cell-cell adhesion and the mechanical tension in the actin cortex. The density of cadherin controls tension polarization in the cortex. Surprisingly, the effect is dependent on the number of cell-cell interfaces!
Read the paper here. - Jinying and Bineet helped Eleanna Kara’s lab to look at how mutations and molecular factors could affect the phase separation of α-synuclein. This will help us understand the molecular basis of Parkinson’s disease!
Read the paper here.