Clifford Brangwynne wants to understand the biophysics of phase transitions in a cell and how different states of matter affect gene expression. Brangwynne and his team have combined concepts and tools from soft matter physics and molecular cell biology to reveal how shifts in material states drive the condensation of various liquid-like assemblies throughout the cell. They recently developed a suite of biophysical tools, including several new optogenetic platforms, to engineer phase transitions at defined genomic loci and examine their causal relationships with genome organization and transcriptional activity. These insights could help researchers better understand diseases affected by changes in protein states, like Alzheimer’s.
HHMI Investigator who developed groundbreaking gene-editing technologies among eight honored for transformative advances in the life sciences. New research reveals that seemingly structureless regions of proteins, known as intrinsically disordered regions, have unique amino acid sequences that play critical roles in protein-protein interactions and chromatin remodeling. These findings have broad implications for cell biology and could shed new light on how cancers and other diseases develop. People taking cholesterol-lowering drugs may fare better than others if they catch the novel coronavirus. A new study hints at why: the virus relies on the fatty molecule to get past the cell’s protective membrane.