Materials Research Science and Engineering Center

March 23rd, 2022

• Opening Remarks : Seth Fraden and Anahita Zare (1:00pm EST)
  

• Soft active materials: IRG2 overview and update - Aparna Baskaran (1:30pm)
  

• IRG2: Flocking of Actin Propelled Beads - Joe Lopes (2:00pm)
  

• Self-limiting assembly: IRG1 overview and update - Ben Rogers (2:15pm)
  

• IRG1: Curvature controlled assembly using DNA-origami colloids - Thomas Vidæbak (2:45pm)
  

• Coffee and Poster Set Up (3:00pm)

Poster Session 1 & Open Bar (3:30pm)

• Christopher Amey: PDE-FIND for model discovery in active systems
• Zachary Curtis: The Role of the S-layer Lattice in Archaeal Cell Shape Plasticity
• Steve Del Signore: Oligomerization regulates phase separation of endocytic proteins
• Huang Fang: Geometrically programmed self-limited assembly of tubules using DNA-origami colloids
• Saptorshi Ghosh: Optimal control of polar active fluid
• Jiaqi Guo: Transcytotic Intercellular Gelation Enables Cell Spheroids
• Douglas M. Hall: Escape from frustration and yielding of frustration-controlled assembly : particle design rules for self-limiting ribbons and rings
• Jeremy Laprade: Droplet coarsening in an active biomimetic fluid
• Xiang Li: Visible Light-Activated Self-Assembly of Double-Stranded DNA
• Yunrui Li: The Machine Learning way from Retardance to Orientation for Active Nematics
• Yingyou Ma: Instabilities of 3D dry active nematic: particle-based simulation and continuum perturbation analysis
• Kanaya Malakar: Self- organized buckling patterns underlie transition from macroscopic extension to contraction in active nonlinear elastic networks
• John Mallon: Microfluidic and CRISPRi toolkits for elucidating archaeal cytoskeleton properties
• Farri Mohajerani:Computational modeling to explain Hepatitis-B Virus capsid assembly and its dimorphism
• Bibi Najma: Extensile to Contractile Transition in a 3D Active Microtubule Network

Poster Session 2 & Open Bar (4:30pm)

• Aldric Rosario: In search of protein gradients in budding yeast
• Alexis Ryan: SpoIIE alters the dynamic polymer network of the division machinery to break symmetry
• Rupam Saha: Flexible assembly of DNA origami triangles on curved surfaces
• Bennett Sessa: Quantifying Mesoscale Force Transduction in Active Biopolymer Networks
• Saaransh Singhal: Active nematics in soft confinement
• Benjamin Strain: Emergent behavior of motile beads driven by actin polymerization
• Kyle Thomas Sullivan: Effect of Non-Conformal Contact in the Self-Limiting Assembly of Curved Particles
• Phu Tran: Machine Learning for Dynamics Forecasting and Controlling of Active Nematics
• Anthony Trubiano: Optimization of non-equilibrium self-assembly protocols using Markov State Models
•  Botond Tyukodi: Size-control and escape mechanisms in self-limiting assemblies with open boundaries
• Sarvesh Uplap: Shape fluctuations of deformable vesicles driven by dilute active nematics.
• Michael Wang: Self-limited assembly of frustrated puzzlemers
• Wei-Shao Wei: Control and monitor assembly kinetics of synthetic capsids made from DNA origami
• Annemarie Winters: Chemosensing in Tissues: From Simple Networks to Nematic Liquid Crystals
• Zahra Zarei: Light-activated Kinesin Tune Defect Density And Nematic Speed

January 22, 2021 

• Welcome: Seth Fraden (1:00 p.m. EST)
• Education, Outreach and Diversity Update: Anahita Zare (1:10 p.m.)
• Hampton University PREM Update: Demetris Geddis (1:20 p.m.)
• Poster Session 1 (1:30 p.m.) View posters
  • Steven Del Signore: Micron Scale Assembly & Organization of Endocytic Proteins
  • Farri Mohajerani: Liquid-liquid phase separation and cargo encapsulation in self-assembling microcompartments
  • Thomas Videbaek: Viewing dynamics of DNA origami assembly
  • Erin Deans: Single-Particle Platform for Study of Reovirus Outer-Capsid Assembly
  • Huang Fang: How do we make a tubule structure with a specific size
  • Jonah Paasche-Orlow: Targeted Encapsulation of Sars-CoV-2 with DNA Origami
  • Botond Tyukodi: Equilibrium calculations on self limited assemblies
  • Hongjian He: Enzyme-Instructed Self-Assembly for Selectively Transfecting the Mitochondria of Cancer Cells
• IRG 1 Talk by Dr. Ben Rogers - Programmed self-limiting assembly (1:50 p.m.)
  Abstract: The self-assembly of subunits into large, but finite-size superstructures remains a grand challenge in soft matter. While living systems routinely achieve size-controlled assembly of functional materials, such as bacterial microcompartments and collagen fibers, synthetic approaches to size-controlled assembly lag far behind biology. The vision of IRG1 is to program the assembly of finite-size structures on length scales many times larger than the building blocks themselves. In this talk, I will provide an overview of the goals of IRG1 and highlight some of the progress to date.  Throughout, I will provide specific examples of programmable building blocks that autonomously form materials with precise, tunable sizes via two paradigms: Thrust 1: Curvature-Controlled Assembly, using tapered monomers that form self-closing objects; and Thrust 2: Frustration-Controlled Assembly, using frustrated monomers that accumulate distortions upon assembly to form self-limited structures with open boundaries.
• IRG 1 Talk by Dr. Grace Han - Optical modulation of DNA binding and assemblies (2:10 p.m.)
  Abstract: Photo-switches are small molecules that respond to light by changing their structure in a reversible fashion. The incorporation of photo-switches in oligonucleotides has been reported to alter the degree of binding between complementary sequences, while the switches used primarily absorb UV that degrades biomolecules. We aim to develop novel oligonucleotide-switch complexes that operate under longer wavelengths of visible light, enabling the repeated switching of DNA assembly and disassembly under benign conditions. This strategy will be extended to control the assembly of the subunits of macro DNA origami structures.
• Poster Session 2 (2:20 p.m.) View posters
  • John Berezney: Engineering Self-Organization in Active Composites
  • John Mallon: Developing systems for archaeal cytoskeleton imaging
  • Salman Alam: Role of confinement in stabilizing 3D Active nematic droplets
  • Linnea Lemma: Controlling Active Stress with Light in Active Gels and Nematics
  • Matthew Peterson: Elastically confined polar active filaments
  • Sarvesh Uplap: Design principles for transport of vesicles by enclosed active particles
  • Minu Varghese: Elastic Active Nematics
  • Joseph David Lopes: Active matter based on actin polymerization
  • Pooja Chandrakar: Confinement Controlled Length Scales in Active Fluids
  • Chaitanya Joshi: Data-driven discovery of active nematic dynamics
  • Aldric Rosario: Mechanisms of length control of actin cables in budding yeast
• IRG 2 Talk by Dr. Guillaume Duclos - Engineering, measuring, and controlling active stresses for building soft active adaptive material (2:40 p.m.)
  Abstract: I will first give an overview of the active matter IRG and then give an update on how to infer and control the rheological properties of a 3D active active network.
• IRG 2 Talk by Theopi Rados - Multicellular development in response to mechanical compression in Haloarchaea (3:00 p.m.)
  Abstract: Resembling bacteria in cell appearance and eukaryotes in many of their molecular components, archaea also have a set of unique characteristics that cannot be found in other domains of life. Haloarchaea are a branch of Archaea that thrive in high salt environments. In response to such extreme osmotic conditions, haloarchaea adapted to a virtually non-existent turgor pressure which allows them to rapidly shapeshift between unusual cell morphologies. Here, I will talk about a novel phenomenon of development triggered by gentle mechanical compression in the haloarchaeon Haloferax volcanii. Under agarose pads, cells reshape into multicellular clusters with at least two differentiated cell types. The development of multicellular structures among prokaryotes is circumscribed to a small subset of bacteria, and had not been previously described in Archaea. Using a combination of live-cell imaging and genetic screenings, we are mapping down the pathways responsible for detecting and signaling physical cues from the environment and characterizing the distinct cell types identified within the clusters. Vastly studied in Eukaryotes, mechanosensing in Archaea is far from understood. Uncovering the mechanisms underlying the assembly of complex structures from simpler single-cell lifestyles will allow us to understand further how cells evolved influenced by physical cues around them.
• Group Photo and Video Competition announcement (3:10 p.m.)
• Closing: Seth Fraden (3:20 p.m.)
• Happy Hour with Virtual Games (3:30 p.m.)