@article{21642, abstract = {By codesigning a metaoptical front end in conjunction with an image‐processing back end, we demonstrate noise sensitivity and compactness substantially superior to either an optics‐only or a computation‐only approach, illustrated by two examples: subwavelength imaging and reconstruction of the full polarization coherence matrices of multiple light sources. Our end‐to‐end inverse designs couple the solution of the full Maxwell equations—exploiting all aspects of wave physics arising in subwavelength scatterers—with inverse‐scattering algorithms in a single large‐scale optimization involving degrees of freedom. The resulting structures scatter light in a way that is radically different from either a conventional lens or a random microstructure, and suppress the noise sensitivity of the inverse‐scattering computation by several orders of magnitude. Incorporating the full wave physics is especially crucial for detecting spectral and polarization information that is discarded by geometric optics and scalar diffraction theory.}, author = {Lin, Zin and Roques-Carmes, Charles and Pestourie, Raphaël and Soljačić, Marin and Majumdar, Arka and Johnson, Steven G.}, issn = {2192-8614}, journal = {Nanophotonics}, keywords = {computational imaging, end-to-end photonic inverse design, inverse scattering, meta-optics, polarimetry}, number = {3}, pages = {1177--1187}, publisher = {Wiley}, title = {{End‐to‐end nanophotonic inverse design for imaging and polarimetry}}, doi = {10.1515/nanoph-2020-0579}, volume = {10}, year = {2020}, } @inproceedings{9198, abstract = {The optimization of multilayer neural networks typically leads to a solution with zero training error, yet the landscape can exhibit spurious local minima and the minima can be disconnected. In this paper, we shed light on this phenomenon: we show that the combination of stochastic gradient descent (SGD) and over-parameterization makes the landscape of multilayer neural networks approximately connected and thus more favorable to optimization. More specifically, we prove that SGD solutions are connected via a piecewise linear path, and the increase in loss along this path vanishes as the number of neurons grows large. This result is a consequence of the fact that the parameters found by SGD are increasingly dropout stable as the network becomes wider. We show that, if we remove part of the neurons (and suitably rescale the remaining ones), the change in loss is independent of the total number of neurons, and it depends only on how many neurons are left. Our results exhibit a mild dependence on the input dimension: they are dimension-free for two-layer networks and depend linearly on the dimension for multilayer networks. We validate our theoretical findings with numerical experiments for different architectures and classification tasks.}, author = {Shevchenko, Aleksandr and Mondelli, Marco}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 37th International Conference on Machine Learning}, pages = {8773--8784}, publisher = {ML Research Press}, title = {{Landscape connectivity and dropout stability of SGD solutions for over-parameterized neural networks}}, volume = {119}, year = {2020}, } @phdthesis{8350, abstract = {Cytoplasm is a gel-like crowded environment composed of tens of thousands of macromolecules, organelles, cytoskeletal networks and cytosol. The structure of the cytoplasm is thought to be highly organized and heterogeneous due to the crowding of its constituents and their effective compartmentalization. In such an environment, the diffusive dynamics of the molecules is very restricted, an effect that is further amplified by clustering and anchoring of molecules. Despite the jammed nature of the cytoplasm at the microscopic scale, large-scale reorganization of cytoplasm is essential for important cellular functions, such as nuclear positioning and cell division. How such mesoscale reorganization of the cytoplasm is achieved, especially for very large cells such as oocytes or syncytial tissues that can span hundreds of micrometers in size, has only begun to be understood. In this thesis, I focus on the recent advances in elucidating the molecular, cellular and biophysical principles underlying cytoplasmic organization across different scales, structures and species. First, I outline which of these principles have been identified by reductionist approaches, such as in vitro reconstitution assays, where boundary conditions and components can be modulated at ease. I then describe how the theoretical and experimental framework established in these reduced systems have been applied to their more complex in vivo counterparts, in particular oocytes and embryonic syncytial structures, and discuss how such complex biological systems can initiate symmetry breaking and establish patterning. Specifically, I examine an example of large-scale reorganizations taking place in zebrafish embryos, where extensive cytoplasmic streaming leads to the segregation of cytoplasm from yolk granules along the animal-vegetal axis of the embryo. Using biophysical experimentation and theory, I investigate the forces underlying this process, to show that this process does not rely on cortical actin reorganization, as previously thought, but instead on a cell-cycle-dependent bulk actin polymerization wave traveling from the animal to the vegetal pole of the embryo. This wave functions in segregation by both pulling cytoplasm animally and pushing yolk granules vegetally. Cytoplasm pulling is mediated by bulk actin network flows exerting friction forces on the cytoplasm, while yolk granule pushing is achieved by a mechanism closely resembling actin comet formation on yolk granules. This study defines a novel role of bulk actin polymerization waves in embryo polarization via cytoplasmic segregation. Lastly, I describe the cytoplasmic reorganizations taking place during zebrafish oocyte maturation, where the initial segregation of the cytoplasm and yolk granules occurs. Here, I demonstrate a previously uncharacterized wave of microtubule aster formation, traveling the oocyte along the animal-vegetal axis. Further research is required to determine the role of such microtubule structures in cytoplasmic reorganizations therein. Collectively, these studies provide further evidence for the coupling between cell cytoskeleton and cell cycle machinery, which can underlie a core self-organizing mechanism for orchestrating large-scale reorganizations in a cell-cycle-tunable manner, where the modulations of the force-generating machinery and cytoplasmic mechanics can be harbored to fulfill cellular functions.}, author = {Shamipour, Shayan}, issn = {2663-337X}, pages = {107}, publisher = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria}, title = {{Bulk actin dynamics drive phase segregation in zebrafish oocytes }}, doi = {10.15479/AT:ISTA:8350}, year = {2020}, } @phdthesis{7680, abstract = {Proteins and their complex dynamic interactions regulate cellular mechanisms from sensing and transducing extracellular signals, to mediating genetic responses, and sustaining or changing cell morphology. To manipulate these protein-protein interactions (PPIs) that govern the behavior and fate of cells, synthetically constructed, genetically encoded tools provide the means to precisely target proteins of interest (POIs), and control their subcellular localization and activity in vitro and in vivo. Ideal synthetic tools react to an orthogonal cue, i.e. a trigger that does not activate any other endogenous process, thereby allowing manipulation of the POI alone. In optogenetics, naturally occurring photosensory domain from plants, algae and bacteria are re-purposed and genetically fused to POIs. Illumination with light of a specific wavelength triggers a conformational change that can mediate PPIs, such as dimerization or oligomerization. By using light as a trigger, these tools can be activated with high spatial and temporal precision, on subcellular and millisecond scales. Chemogenetic tools consist of protein domains that recognize and bind small molecules. By genetic fusion to POIs, these domains can mediate PPIs upon addition of their specific ligands, which are often synthetically designed to provide highly specific interactions and exhibit good bioavailability. Most optogenetic tools to mediate PPIs are based on well-studied photoreceptors responding to red, blue or near-UV light, leaving a striking gap in the green band of the visible light spectrum. Among both optogenetic and chemogenetic tools, there is an abundance of methods to induce PPIs, but tools to disrupt them require UV illumination, rely on covalent linkage and subsequent enzymatic cleavage or initially result in protein clustering of unknown stoichiometry. This work describes how the recently structurally and photochemically characterized green-light responsive cobalamin-binding domains (CBDs) from bacterial transcription factors were re-purposed to function as a green-light responsive optogenetic tool. In contrast to previously engineered optogenetic tools, CBDs do not induce PPI, but rather confer a PPI already upon expression, which can be rapidly disrupted by illumination. This was employed to mimic inhibition of constitutive activity of a growth factor receptor, and successfully implement for cell signalling in mammalian cells and in vivo to rescue development in zebrafish. This work further describes the development and application of a chemically induced de-dimerizer (CDD) based on a recently identified and structurally described bacterial oxyreductase. CDD forms a dimer upon expression in absence of its cofactor, the flavin derivative F420. Safety and of domain expression and ligand exposure are demonstrated in vitro and in vivo in zebrafish. The system is further applied to inhibit cell signalling output from a chimeric receptor upon F420 treatment. CBDs and CDD expand the repertoire of synthetic tools by providing novel mechanisms of mediating PPIs, and by recognizing previously not utilized cues. In the future, they can readily be combined with existing synthetic tools to functionally manipulate PPIs in vitro and in vivo.}, author = {Kainrath, Stephanie}, issn = {2663-337X}, pages = {98}, publisher = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria}, title = {{Synthetic tools for optogenetic and chemogenetic inhibition of cellular signals}}, doi = {10.15479/AT:ISTA:7680}, year = {2020}, } @article{8586, abstract = {Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) of cellular specimens provides insights into biological processes and structures within a native context. However, a major challenge still lies in the efficient and reproducible preparation of adherent cells for subsequent cryo-EM analysis. This is due to the sensitivity of many cellular specimens to the varying seeding and culturing conditions required for EM experiments, the often limited amount of cellular material and also the fragility of EM grids and their substrate. Here, we present low-cost and reusable 3D printed grid holders, designed to improve specimen preparation when culturing challenging cellular samples directly on grids. The described grid holders increase cell culture reproducibility and throughput, and reduce the resources required for cell culturing. We show that grid holders can be integrated into various cryo-EM workflows, including micro-patterning approaches to control cell seeding on grids, and for generating samples for cryo-focused ion beam milling and cryo-electron tomography experiments. Their adaptable design allows for the generation of specialized grid holders customized to a large variety of applications.}, author = {Fäßler, Florian and Zens, Bettina and Hauschild, Robert and Schur, Florian KM}, issn = {1047-8477}, journal = {Journal of Structural Biology}, keywords = {electron microscopy, cryo-EM, EM sample preparation, 3D printing, cell culture}, number = {3}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{3D printed cell culture grid holders for improved cellular specimen preparation in cryo-electron microscopy}}, doi = {10.1016/j.jsb.2020.107633}, volume = {212}, year = {2020}, } @article{8434, abstract = {Efficient migration on adhesive surfaces involves the protrusion of lamellipodial actin networks and their subsequent stabilization by nascent adhesions. The actin-binding protein lamellipodin (Lpd) is thought to play a critical role in lamellipodium protrusion, by delivering Ena/VASP proteins onto the growing plus ends of actin filaments and by interacting with the WAVE regulatory complex, an activator of the Arp2/3 complex, at the leading edge. Using B16-F1 melanoma cell lines, we demonstrate that genetic ablation of Lpd compromises protrusion efficiency and coincident cell migration without altering essential parameters of lamellipodia, including their maximal rate of forward advancement and actin polymerization. We also confirmed lamellipodia and migration phenotypes with CRISPR/Cas9-mediated Lpd knockout Rat2 fibroblasts, excluding cell type-specific effects. Moreover, computer-aided analysis of cell-edge morphodynamics on B16-F1 cell lamellipodia revealed that loss of Lpd correlates with reduced temporal protrusion maintenance as a prerequisite of nascent adhesion formation. We conclude that Lpd optimizes protrusion and nascent adhesion formation by counteracting frequent, chaotic retraction and membrane ruffling.This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper. }, author = {Dimchev, Georgi A and Amiri, Behnam and Humphries, Ashley C. and Schaks, Matthias and Dimchev, Vanessa and Stradal, Theresia E. B. and Faix, Jan and Krause, Matthias and Way, Michael and Falcke, Martin and Rottner, Klemens}, issn = {1477-9137}, journal = {Journal of Cell Science}, keywords = {Cell Biology}, number = {7}, publisher = {The Company of Biologists}, title = {{Lamellipodin tunes cell migration by stabilizing protrusions and promoting adhesion formation}}, doi = {10.1242/jcs.239020}, volume = {133}, year = {2020}, } @article{7889, abstract = {Autoluminescent plants engineered to express a bacterial bioluminescence gene cluster in plastids have not been widely adopted because of low light output. We engineered tobacco plants with a fungal bioluminescence system that converts caffeic acid (present in all plants) into luciferin and report self-sustained luminescence that is visible to the naked eye. Our findings could underpin development of a suite of imaging tools for plants.}, author = {Mitiouchkina, Tatiana and Mishin, Alexander S. and Gonzalez Somermeyer, Louisa and Markina, Nadezhda M. and Chepurnyh, Tatiana V. and Guglya, Elena B. and Karataeva, Tatiana A. and Palkina, Kseniia A. and Shakhova, Ekaterina S. and Fakhranurova, Liliia I. and Chekova, Sofia V. and Tsarkova, Aleksandra S. and Golubev, Yaroslav V. and Negrebetsky, Vadim V. and Dolgushin, Sergey A. and Shalaev, Pavel V. and Shlykov, Dmitry and Melnik, Olesya A. and Shipunova, Victoria O. and Deyev, Sergey M. and Bubyrev, Andrey I. and Pushin, Alexander S. and Choob, Vladimir V. and Dolgov, Sergey V. and Kondrashov, Fyodor and Yampolsky, Ilia V. and Sarkisyan, Karen S.}, issn = {1546-1696}, journal = {Nature Biotechnology}, pages = {944--946}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Plants with genetically encoded autoluminescence}}, doi = {10.1038/s41587-020-0500-9}, volume = {38}, year = {2020}, } @article{7888, abstract = {Embryonic stem cell cultures are thought to self-organize into embryoid bodies, able to undergo symmetry-breaking, germ layer specification and even morphogenesis. Yet, it is unclear how to reconcile this remarkable self-organization capacity with classical experiments demonstrating key roles for extrinsic biases by maternal factors and/or extraembryonic tissues in embryogenesis. Here, we show that zebrafish embryonic tissue explants, prepared prior to germ layer induction and lacking extraembryonic tissues, can specify all germ layers and form a seemingly complete mesendoderm anlage. Importantly, explant organization requires polarized inheritance of maternal factors from dorsal-marginal regions of the blastoderm. Moreover, induction of endoderm and head-mesoderm, which require peak Nodal-signaling levels, is highly variable in explants, reminiscent of embryos with reduced Nodal signals from the extraembryonic tissues. Together, these data suggest that zebrafish explants do not undergo bona fide self-organization, but rather display features of genetically encoded self-assembly, where intrinsic genetic programs control the emergence of order.}, author = {Schauer, Alexandra and Nunes Pinheiro, Diana C and Hauschild, Robert and Heisenberg, Carl-Philipp J}, issn = {2050-084X}, journal = {eLife}, publisher = {eLife Sciences Publications}, title = {{Zebrafish embryonic explants undergo genetically encoded self-assembly}}, doi = {10.7554/elife.55190}, volume = {9}, year = {2020}, } @inproceedings{9633, abstract = {The search for biologically faithful synaptic plasticity rules has resulted in a large body of models. They are usually inspired by – and fitted to – experimental data, but they rarely produce neural dynamics that serve complex functions. These failures suggest that current plasticity models are still under-constrained by existing data. Here, we present an alternative approach that uses meta-learning to discover plausible synaptic plasticity rules. Instead of experimental data, the rules are constrained by the functions they implement and the structure they are meant to produce. Briefly, we parameterize synaptic plasticity rules by a Volterra expansion and then use supervised learning methods (gradient descent or evolutionary strategies) to minimize a problem-dependent loss function that quantifies how effectively a candidate plasticity rule transforms an initially random network into one with the desired function. We first validate our approach by re-discovering previously described plasticity rules, starting at the single-neuron level and “Oja’s rule”, a simple Hebbian plasticity rule that captures the direction of most variability of inputs to a neuron (i.e., the first principal component). We expand the problem to the network level and ask the framework to find Oja’s rule together with an anti-Hebbian rule such that an initially random two-layer firing-rate network will recover several principal components of the input space after learning. Next, we move to networks of integrate-and-fire neurons with plastic inhibitory afferents. We train for rules that achieve a target firing rate by countering tuned excitation. Our algorithm discovers a specific subset of the manifold of rules that can solve this task. Our work is a proof of principle of an automated and unbiased approach to unveil synaptic plasticity rules that obey biological constraints and can solve complex functions.}, author = {Confavreux, Basile J and Zenke, Friedemann and Agnes, Everton J. and Lillicrap, Timothy and Vogels, Tim P}, booktitle = {Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems}, issn = {1049-5258}, location = {Vancouver, Canada}, pages = {16398--16408}, title = {{A meta-learning approach to (re)discover plasticity rules that carve a desired function into a neural network}}, volume = {33}, year = {2020}, } @article{7426, abstract = {This paper presents a novel abstraction technique for analyzing Lyapunov and asymptotic stability of polyhedral switched systems. A polyhedral switched system is a hybrid system in which the continuous dynamics is specified by polyhedral differential inclusions, the invariants and guards are specified by polyhedral sets and the switching between the modes do not involve reset of variables. A finite state weighted graph abstracting the polyhedral switched system is constructed from a finite partition of the state–space, such that the satisfaction of certain graph conditions, such as the absence of cycles with product of weights on the edges greater than (or equal) to 1, implies the stability of the system. However, the graph is in general conservative and hence, the violation of the graph conditions does not imply instability. If the analysis fails to establish stability due to the conservativeness in the approximation, a counterexample (cycle with product of edge weights greater than or equal to 1) indicating a potential reason for the failure is returned. Further, a more precise approximation of the switched system can be constructed by considering a finer partition of the state–space in the construction of the finite weighted graph. We present experimental results on analyzing stability of switched systems using the above method.}, author = {Garcia Soto, Miriam and Prabhakar, Pavithra}, issn = {1751-570X}, journal = {Nonlinear Analysis: Hybrid Systems}, number = {5}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Abstraction based verification of stability of polyhedral switched systems}}, doi = {10.1016/j.nahs.2020.100856}, volume = {36}, year = {2020}, } @article{7161, abstract = {In this paper, we introduce an inertial projection-type method with different updating strategies for solving quasi-variational inequalities with strongly monotone and Lipschitz continuous operators in real Hilbert spaces. Under standard assumptions, we establish different strong convergence results for the proposed algorithm. Primary numerical experiments demonstrate the potential applicability of our scheme compared with some related methods in the literature.}, author = {Shehu, Yekini and Gibali, Aviv and Sagratella, Simone}, issn = {1573-2878}, journal = {Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications}, pages = {877–894}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Inertial projection-type methods for solving quasi-variational inequalities in real Hilbert spaces}}, doi = {10.1007/s10957-019-01616-6}, volume = {184}, year = {2020}, } @article{8190, author = {Sixt, Michael K and Huttenlocher, Anna}, issn = {1540-8140}, journal = {The Journal of Cell Biology}, number = {8}, publisher = {Rockefeller University Press}, title = {{Zena Werb (1945-2020): Cell biology in context}}, doi = {10.1083/jcb.202007029}, volume = {219}, year = {2020}, } @phdthesis{7525, abstract = {The medial habenula (MHb) is an evolutionary conserved epithalamic structure important for the modulation of emotional memory. It is involved in regulation of anxiety, compulsive behavior, addiction (nicotinic and opioid), sexual and feeding behavior. MHb receives inputs from septal regions and projects exclusively to the interpeduncular nucleus (IPN). Distinct sub-regions of the septum project to different subnuclei of MHb: the bed nucleus of anterior commissure projects to dorsal MHb and the triangular septum projects to ventral MHb. Furthermore, the dorsal and ventral MHb project to the lateral and rostral/central IPN, respectively. Importantly, these projections have unique features of prominent co-release of different neurotransmitters and requirement of a peculiar type of calcium channel for release. In general, synaptic neurotransmission requires an activity-dependent influx of Ca2+ into the presynaptic terminal through voltage-gated calcium channels. The calcium channel family most commonly involved in neurotransmitter release comprises three members, P/Q-, N- and R-type with Cav2.1, Cav2.2 and Cav2.3 subunits, respectively. In contrast to most CNS synapses that mainly express Cav2.1 and/or Cav2.2, MHb terminals in the IPN exclusively express Cav2.3. In other parts of the brain, such as the hippocampus, Cav2.3 is mostly located to postsynaptic elements. This unusual presynaptic location of Cav2.3 in the MHb-IPN pathway implies unique mechanisms of glutamate release in this pathway. One potential example of such uniqueness is the facilitation of release by GABAB receptor (GBR) activation. Presynaptic GBRs usually inhibit the release of neurotransmitters by inhibiting presynaptic calcium channels. MHb shows the highest expression levels of GBR in the brain. GBRs comprise two subunits, GABAB1 (GB1) and GABAB2 (GB2), and are associated with auxiliary subunits, called potassium channel tetramerization domain containing proteins (KCTD) 8, 12, 12b and 16. Among these four subunits, KCTD12b is exclusively expressed in ventral MHb, and KCTD8 shows the strongest expression in the whole MHb among other brain regions, indicating that KCTD8 and KCTD12b may be involved in the unique mechanisms of neurotransmitter release mediated by Cav2.3 and regulated by GBRs in this pathway. In the present study, we first verified that neurotransmission in both dorsal and ventral MHb-IPN pathways is mainly mediated by Cav2.3 using a selective blocker of R-type channels, SNX-482. We next found that baclofen, a GBR agonist, has facilitatory effects on release from ventral MHb terminal in rostral IPN, whereas it has inhibitory effects on release from dorsal MHb terminals in lateral IPN, indicating that KCTD12b expressed exclusively in ventral MHb may have a role in the facilitatory effects of GBR activation. In a heterologous expression system using HEK cells, we found that KCTD8 and KCTD12b but not KCTD12 directly bind with Cav2.3. Pre-embedding immunogold electron microscopy data show that Cav2.3 and KCTD12b are distributed most densely in presynaptic active zone in IPN with KCTD12b being present only in rostral/central but not lateral IPN, whereas GABAB, KCTD8 and KCTD12 are distributed most densely in perisynaptic sites with KCTD12 present more frequently in postsynaptic elements and only in rostral/central IPN. In freeze-fracture replica labelling, Cav2.3, KCTD8 and KCTD12b are co-localized with each other in the same active zone indicating that they may form complexes regulating vesicle release in rostral IPN. On electrophysiological studies of wild type (WT) mice, we found that paired-pulse ratio in rostral IPN of KCTD12b knock-out (KO) mice is lower than those of WT and KCTD8 KO mice. Consistent with this finding, in mean variance analysis, release probability in rostral IPN of KCTD12b KO mice is higher than that of WT and KCTD8 KO mice. Although paired-pulse ratios are not different between WT and KCTD8 KO mice, the mean variance analysis revealed significantly lower release probability in rostral IPN of KCTD8 KO than WT mice. These results demonstrate bidirectional regulation of Cav2.3-mediated release by KCTD8 and KCTD12b without GBR activation in rostral IPN. Finally, we examined the baclofen effects in rostral IPN of KCTD8 and KCTD12b KO mice, and found the facilitation of release remained in both KO mice, indicating that the peculiar effects of the GBR activation in this pathway do not depend on the selective expression of these KCTD subunits in ventral MHb. However, we found that presynaptic potentiation of evoked EPSC amplitude by baclofen falls to baseline after washout faster in KCTD12b KO mice than WT, KCTD8 KO and KCTD8/12b double KO mice. This result indicates that KCTD12b is involved in sustained potentiation of vesicle release by GBR activation, whereas KCTD8 is involved in its termination in the absence of KCTD12b. Consistent with these functional findings, replica labelling revealed an increase in density of KCTD8, but not Cav2.3 or GBR at active zone in rostral IPN of KCTD12b KO mice compared with that of WT mice, suggesting that increased association of KCTD8 with Cav2.3 facilitates the release probability and termination of the GBR effect in the absence of KCTD12b. In summary, our study provided new insights into the physiological roles of presynaptic Cav2.3, GBRs and their auxiliary subunits KCTDs at an evolutionary conserved neuronal circuit. Future studies will be required to identify the exact molecular mechanism underlying the GBR-mediated presynaptic potentiation on ventral MHb terminals. It remains to be determined whether the prominent presence of presynaptic KCTDs at active zone could exert similar neuromodulatory functions in different pathways of the brain. }, author = {Bhandari, Pradeep}, issn = {2663-337X}, keywords = {Cav2.3, medial habenula (MHb), interpeduncular nucleus (IPN)}, pages = {79}, publisher = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria}, title = {{Localization and functional role of Cav2.3 in the medial habenula to interpeduncular nucleus pathway}}, doi = {10.15479/AT:ISTA:7525}, year = {2020}, } @article{7387, abstract = {Most bacteria accomplish cell division with the help of a dynamic protein complex called the divisome, which spans the cell envelope in the plane of division. Assembly and activation of this machinery are coordinated by the tubulin-related GTPase FtsZ, which was found to form treadmilling filaments on supported bilayers in vitro1, as well as in live cells, in which filaments circle around the cell division site2,3. Treadmilling of FtsZ is thought to actively move proteins around the division septum, thereby distributing peptidoglycan synthesis and coordinating the inward growth of the septum to form the new poles of the daughter cells4. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this function are largely unknown. Here, to study how FtsZ polymerization dynamics are coupled to downstream proteins, we reconstituted part of the bacterial cell division machinery using its purified components FtsZ, FtsA and truncated transmembrane proteins essential for cell division. We found that the membrane-bound cytosolic peptides of FtsN and FtsQ co-migrated with treadmilling FtsZ–FtsA filaments, but despite their directed collective behaviour, individual peptides showed random motion and transient confinement. Our work suggests that divisome proteins follow treadmilling FtsZ filaments by a diffusion-and-capture mechanism, which can give rise to a moving zone of signalling activity at the division site.}, author = {Baranova, Natalia S. and Radler, Philipp and Hernández-Rocamora, Víctor M. and Alfonso, Carlos and Lopez Pelegrin, Maria D and Rivas, Germán and Vollmer, Waldemar and Loose, Martin}, issn = {2058-5276}, journal = {Nature Microbiology}, pages = {407--417}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Diffusion and capture permits dynamic coupling between treadmilling FtsZ filaments and cell division proteins}}, doi = {10.1038/s41564-019-0657-5}, volume = {5}, year = {2020}, } @article{8707, abstract = {Dynamic changes in the three-dimensional (3D) organization of chromatin are associated with central biological processes, such as transcription, replication and development. Therefore, the comprehensive identification and quantification of these changes is fundamental to understanding of evolutionary and regulatory mechanisms. Here, we present Comparison of Hi-C Experiments using Structural Similarity (CHESS), an algorithm for the comparison of chromatin contact maps and automatic differential feature extraction. We demonstrate the robustness of CHESS to experimental variability and showcase its biological applications on (1) interspecies comparisons of syntenic regions in human and mouse models; (2) intraspecies identification of conformational changes in Zelda-depleted Drosophila embryos; (3) patient-specific aberrant chromatin conformation in a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma sample; and (4) the systematic identification of chromatin contact differences in high-resolution Capture-C data. In summary, CHESS is a computationally efficient method for the comparison and classification of changes in chromatin contact data.}, author = { Galan, Silvia and Machnik, Nick N and Kruse, Kai and Díaz, Noelia and Marti-Renom, Marc A and Vaquerizas, Juan M}, issn = {1546-1718}, journal = {Nature Genetics}, pages = {1247--1255}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{CHESS enables quantitative comparison of chromatin contact data and automatic feature extraction}}, doi = {10.1038/s41588-020-00712-y}, volume = {52}, year = {2020}, } @article{7473, abstract = {How structural and functional properties of synapses relate to each other is a fundamental question in neuroscience. Electrophysiology has elucidated mechanisms of synaptic transmission, and electron microscopy (EM) has provided insight into morphological properties of synapses. Here we describe an enhanced method for functional EM (“flash and freeze”), combining optogenetic stimulation with high-pressure freezing. We demonstrate that the improved method can be applied to intact networks in acute brain slices and organotypic slice cultures from mice. As a proof of concept, we probed vesicle pool changes during synaptic transmission at the hippocampal mossy fiber-CA3 pyramidal neuron synapse. Our findings show overlap of the docked vesicle pool and the functionally defined readily releasable pool and provide evidence of fast endocytosis at this synapse. Functional EM with acute slices and slice cultures has the potential to reveal the structural and functional mechanisms of transmission in intact, genetically perturbed, and disease-affected synapses.}, author = {Borges Merjane, Carolina and Kim, Olena and Jonas, Peter M}, issn = {0896-6273}, journal = {Neuron}, pages = {992--1006}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Functional electron microscopy (“Flash and Freeze”) of identified cortical synapses in acute brain slices}}, doi = {10.1016/j.neuron.2019.12.022}, volume = {105}, year = {2020}, } @article{8139, abstract = {Clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) is a crucial cellular process implicated in many aspects of plant growth, development, intra- and inter-cellular signaling, nutrient uptake and pathogen defense. Despite these significant roles, little is known about the precise molecular details of how it functions in planta. In order to facilitate the direct quantitative study of plant CME, here we review current routinely used methods and present refined, standardized quantitative imaging protocols which allow the detailed characterization of CME at multiple scales in plant tissues. These include: (i) an efficient electron microscopy protocol for the imaging of Arabidopsis CME vesicles in situ, thus providing a method for the detailed characterization of the ultra-structure of clathrin-coated vesicles; (ii) a detailed protocol and analysis for quantitative live-cell fluorescence microscopy to precisely examine the temporal interplay of endocytosis components during single CME events; (iii) a semi-automated analysis to allow the quantitative characterization of global internalization of cargos in whole plant tissues; and (iv) an overview and validation of useful genetic and pharmacological tools to interrogate the molecular mechanisms and function of CME in intact plant samples.}, author = {Johnson, Alexander J and Gnyliukh, Nataliia and Kaufmann, Walter and Narasimhan, Madhumitha and Vert, G and Bednarek, SY and Friml, Jiří}, issn = {1477-9137}, journal = {Journal of Cell Science}, number = {15}, publisher = {The Company of Biologists}, title = {{Experimental toolbox for quantitative evaluation of clathrin-mediated endocytosis in the plant model Arabidopsis}}, doi = {10.1242/jcs.248062}, volume = {133}, year = {2020}, } @article{8002, abstract = {Wound healing in plant tissues, consisting of rigid cell wall-encapsulated cells, represents a considerable challenge and occurs through largely unknown mechanisms distinct from those in animals. Owing to their inability to migrate, plant cells rely on targeted cell division and expansion to regenerate wounds. Strict coordination of these wound-induced responses is essential to ensure efficient, spatially restricted wound healing. Single-cell tracking by live imaging allowed us to gain mechanistic insight into the wound perception and coordination of wound responses after laser-based wounding in Arabidopsis root. We revealed a crucial contribution of the collapse of damaged cells in wound perception and detected an auxin increase specific to cells immediately adjacent to the wound. This localized auxin increase balances wound-induced cell expansion and restorative division rates in a dose-dependent manner, leading to tumorous overproliferation when the canonical TIR1 auxin signaling is disrupted. Auxin and wound-induced turgor pressure changes together also spatially define the activation of key components of regeneration, such as the transcription regulator ERF115. Our observations suggest that the wound signaling involves the sensing of collapse of damaged cells and a local auxin signaling activation to coordinate the downstream transcriptional responses in the immediate wound vicinity.}, author = {Hörmayer, Lukas and Montesinos López, Juan C and Marhavá, Petra and Benková, Eva and Yoshida, Saiko and Friml, Jiří}, issn = {1091-6490}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}, number = {26}, publisher = {National Academy of Sciences}, title = {{Wounding-induced changes in cellular pressure and localized auxin signalling spatially coordinate restorative divisions in roots}}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.2003346117}, volume = {117}, year = {2020}, } @article{9160, abstract = {Auxin is a key hormonal regulator, that governs plant growth and development in concert with other hormonal pathways. The unique feature of auxin is its polar, cell-to-cell transport that leads to the formation of local auxin maxima and gradients, which coordinate initiation and patterning of plant organs. The molecular machinery mediating polar auxin transport is one of the important points of interaction with other hormones. Multiple hormonal pathways converge at the regulation of auxin transport and form a regulatory network that integrates various developmental and environmental inputs to steer plant development. In this review, we discuss recent advances in understanding the mechanisms that underlie regulation of polar auxin transport by multiple hormonal pathways. Specifically, we focus on the post-translational mechanisms that contribute to fine-tuning of the abundance and polarity of auxin transporters at the plasma membrane and thereby enable rapid modification of the auxin flow to coordinate plant growth and development.}, author = {Semeradova, Hana and Montesinos López, Juan C and Benková, Eva}, issn = {2590-3462}, journal = {Plant Communications}, number = {3}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{All roads lead to auxin: Post-translational regulation of auxin transport by multiple hormonal pathways}}, doi = {10.1016/j.xplc.2020.100048}, volume = {1}, year = {2020}, } @unpublished{8831, abstract = {Holes in planar Ge have high mobilities, strong spin-orbit interaction and electrically tunable g-factors, and are therefore emerging as a promising candidate for hybrid superconductorsemiconductor devices. This is further motivated by the observation of supercurrent transport in planar Ge Josephson Field effect transistors (JoFETs). A key challenge towards hybrid germanium quantum technology is the design of high quality interfaces and superconducting contacts that are robust against magnetic fields. By combining the assets of Al, which has a long superconducting coherence, and Nb, which has a significant superconducting gap, we form low-disordered JoFETs with large ICRN products that are capable of withstanding high magnetic fields. We furthermore demonstrate the ability of phase-biasing individual JoFETs opening up an avenue to explore topological superconductivity in planar Ge. The persistence of superconductivity in the reported hybrid devices beyond 1.8 T paves the way towards integrating spin qubits and proximity-induced superconductivity on the same chip.}, author = {Aggarwal, Kushagra and Hofmann, Andrea C and Jirovec, Daniel and Prieto Gonzalez, Ivan and Sammak, Amir and Botifoll, Marc and Marti-Sanchez, Sara and Veldhorst, Menno and Arbiol, Jordi and Scappucci, Giordano and Katsaros, Georgios}, booktitle = {arXiv}, title = {{Enhancement of proximity induced superconductivity in planar Germanium}}, doi = {10.48550/arXiv.2012.00322}, year = {2020}, }