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SUMMARY:QLS Seminar - Actin Force-Generation in Synthetic Biological Mater
 ials: Active Droplets and Beating Tails
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260714T080000Z
DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260714T090000Z
DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260718T023744Z
UID:indico-event-11394@ictp.it
DESCRIPTION:\n	Actin is a vital cytoskeletal protein that functions as a m
 olecular polymerization motor. Within living cells\, actin filaments gener
 ate mechanical forces (without any molecular motors) through a dynamic bal
 ance of polymerization and depolymerization in a process known as treadmil
 ling.\n	This machinery allows cells to crawl and reshape themselves. Patho
 gens like the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes also exploit this mechanism\
 , hijacking the host cell’s actin to build propulsion tail networks that
  drive them forward. Our works reconstruct this treadmilling mechanism wit
 hin synthetic biological materials. By transitioning from complex cellular
  environments to controlled synthetic systems\, we explore how biomimetic 
 force generation leads to emergent non-equilibrium phenomena.\n	 \n	In th
 is talk\, I will present two complementary approaches that exploit actin t
 readmilling within synthetic biological materials. First\, I will discuss 
 how local actin filament growth alters the phase-separation dynamics of DN
 A-nanostar condensates\, driving emergent structural behaviors from drople
 t reorganization to fragmentation. Second\, I will show how leveraging thi
 s same motor mechanism allows us to engineer microscopic "beating tails" d
 riven purely by polymerization. These findings collectively demonstrate ho
 w simple\, localized molecular mechanisms can be leveraged to drive comple
 x macroscopic behaviors\, offering a new playground for exploring emergent
  active matter physics.\n	 \n\n//indico.ictp.it/event/11394/
LOCATION:ICTP Common Area Old SISSA building Second floor
URL://indico.ictp.it/event/11394/
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