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Expertise

The Grill group bridges experiment with theory in the physics of life, in particular active matter physics, morphogenesis, the actomyosin cytoskeleton, and biomolecular condensates. Key research questions addressed concern the force balance that underlies actomyosin cortical flows1, symmetry breaking in active matter systems2–4, active chiral matter and left/right symmetry breaking4. In collaboration with the Jülicher group in Dresden the Grill group has, through its long-lasting expertise in using optical tweezers in a single molecule and a mesoscale context5, investigated protein-DNA co-condensation6, discovered a dynamic instability of cortical condensates in the context of actomyosin cortex activation7, and together with the Hyman and Jülicher groups discovered a DNA-sequence-dependent prewetting transition towards droplet of general transcription factors on DNA8.

References:

  1. Mayer, Grill et al. Anisotropies in cortical tension reveal the physical basis of polarizing cortical flows. Nature. 2010;467(7315):617-621. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09376
  2. Gross, Grill et al. Guiding self-organized pattern formation in cell polarity establishment. Nat Phys. 2019;15(3):293-300.
  3. Bois, Grill et al. Pattern Formation in Active Fluids. Phys Rev Lett. 2011;106(2):028103. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.028103 
  4. Naganathan, Grill et al. Active torque generation by the actomyosin cell cortex drives left–right symmetry breaking. Ferrell J, ed. eLife. 2014;3:e04165. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.04165
  5. Fitz, Grill et al. Nucleosomal arrangement affects single-molecule transcription dynamics. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2016;113(45):12733-12738. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1602764113
  6. Renger, Grill et al. Co-condensation of proteins with single- and double-stranded DNA. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2022;119(10). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2107871119
  7. Yan, Grill et al. A condensate dynamic instability orchestrates actomyosin cortex activation. Nature. 2022;609(7927):597-604. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05084-3
  8. Morin, Grill et al. Sequence-dependent surface condensation of a pioneer transcription factor on DNA. Nat Phys. 2022;18(3):271-276. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-021-01462-2

Current news by this research group

New Research Training Group for Biomolecular Condensates in Dresden

The DFG approved a funding application to establish a new Research Training Group (RTG 3120) in Dresden to train PhD students interdisciplinary methods and approaches to study Biomolecular Condensates. Read the press releases for more:…

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