Physical Chemistry Curie (UMR168)

Modern materials can be designed to self-organize into structures that perform a wide range of functions. The past two decades have witnessed major innovations in the versatility of building blocks, ranging from DNA on the nanoscale to handshaking materials on the macroscale. One can reliably self-assemble arbitrary structures like a jigsaw puzzle if all the pieces are distinct. Still, systems wit

What sets the size and form of living organisms is still, by large, an open question. During this talk, I will illustrate how we are approaching this question by focusing on temporal and spatial fluctuations of tissue mechanics and growth, both experimentally and theoretically. First, I will discuss what sets the directionality of growth at organ scale. Second, I will present predictions that grow

As the nuclear envelop breaks down, microtubules and motors self-assemble into the mitotic spindle, a dynamic structure essential to congress and biorient chromosomes before partitioning of sister chromatids to the daughter cells in anaphase. Microtubules are dynamically reorganized and regulated throughout mitosis to ensure faithful chromosome segregation. Mitotic kinase activity is also key to p

Integrin-based focal adhesions (FAs) initiate chemical and mechanical signals involved in cell polarity, migration, proliferation and differentiation. Super-resolution microscopy revealed that FAs are organized at the nanoscale into functional layers from the lower plasma membrane to the upper actin cytoskeleton. Among the main partners of integrin adhesion receptors, talin and kindlin are two ess

Cells package their genomic DNA into a complex with proteins called chromatin. Chromatin is partitioned into subcompartments that differ from each other with respect to their compaction, molecular composition and biological function. One example are the micron-sized spherical heterochromatin foci that are present in several differentiated cell types and that are readily visible under the microscop