CAREER - The Importance of Being Random: Actin Propulsion Engines and Stochastic Gene Expression

该职业活动的科学部分侧重于探索两个生物系统中噪声和随机性的重要性的实验和理论方法：（i）肌动蛋白推进引擎和（ii）细菌中的随机基因表达。 第一个项目的目标是解开聚合肌动蛋白丝的力产生和自组织的生物物理机制。 理论上的努力将集中在开发现实的模型，将最近的生物化学数据肌动蛋白推进引擎。 以协同的方式，将进行实验，探索推进明确定义的货物，如聚苯乙烯珠，磷脂囊泡，和微制造的圆柱体。 第二个项目的主要目标是定量地了解原核细胞中的随机基因表达。 使用分析和数值工具，随机表达将在理论上建模。 这些理论将通过使用荧光报告蛋白探索原核细胞中单个基因的随机基因表达和简单的遗传网络来进行测试。 该活动的教育部分侧重于通过一些不同的机制，包括新的系列研讨会，新课程和期刊俱乐部，在麻省理工学院的生物物理学基础设施的发展。 该奖项由数学和物理科学理事会的物理部以及生物科学理事会的分子和细胞生物科学部共同支持。

The scientific component of this CAREER activity focuses on experiments and theoretical approaches that explore the importance of noise and randomness in two biological systems: (i) the actin propulsion engine and (ii) stochastic gene expression in bacteria. The goal of the first project is to unravel the biophysical mechanism of force generation and self-organization of polymerizing actin filaments. Theoretical efforts will focus on developing realistic models that incorporate the recent biochemical data of actin propulsion engines. In a synergistic manner, experiments will be performed that explore the propulsion of well-defined cargo such as polystyrene beads, phospholipid vesicles, and micro-fabricated cylinders. The main goal of the second project is to quantitatively understand stochastic gene expression in prokaryotic cells. Using analytical and numerical tools, stochastic expression will be modeled theoretically. The theories will be tested by exploring stochastic gene expression of single genes and simple genetic networks in prokaryotic cells using fluorescent reporter proteins. The educational component of the activity focuses on the development of an infrastructure for biophysics at MIT thorough a number of different mechanisms, including a new seminar series, new courses, and journal clubs. This award is jointly supported by the Division of Physics in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences and the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences in the Directorate for Biological Sciences.