School of Physics Colloquium

Speaker: Yu Shi (UNC)

Title: Bridging nano- and mesoscale nuclear organization with correlative single molecule lattice light sheet microscopy

Abstract: The dynamics and spatial organization of subcellular structures’ microscopic constituents dictate their biological functions. Connecting individual components to their collective subcellular organization will enlighten how the underlying physics of the systems governs their assembly and stability. This talk will highlight research to improve understanding of how molecular interactions lead to emergent cellular behavior such as gene transcription and cells’ interactions with their physical environment. I will focus on the connection between nano- and mesoscale nuclear dynamics and organization. This work exploits a new combination of cutting-edge microscopy techniques that enable simultaneous investigations of cell nuclei from nanometer to micrometer length scale. Our results show that heterogeneity in cell nuclei arises from both active and passive processes and highlight the need to account for this heterogeneity when modeling nuclear dynamics. Finally, I will discuss how this work will motivate my future research investigating the role of marginal stability in bridging microscopic and macroscopic cellular behaviors. 

Bio: Yu Shi is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He obtained his bachelor's in physics at the University of Science and Technology of China and completed his Ph.D. in Physics at Johns Hopkins University where he studied dynamical fluctuations in cytoskeleton. He then continued his academic career as a postdoc at UNC at Chapel Hill working on advanced optical microscopy. His research interests lie in understanding the connection between microscopic interactions and macroscopic emerging phenomena in subcellular structures, specifically within the cytoskeleton and nuclear architectures. He is also interested in developing and implementing relevant mechanical and imaging tools to study cellular biophysics.