Dynamic nuclear structure emerges from chromatin crosslinks and motors

The cell nucleus houses the chromosomes, which are linked to a soft shell of lamin filaments. Experiments indicate that correlated chromosome dynamics and nuclear shape fluctuations arise from motor activity. To identify the physical mechanisms, we develop a model of an active, crosslinked Rouse chain bound to a polymeric shell. System-sized correlated motions occur but require both motor activity {\it and} crosslinks. Contractile motors, in particular, enhance chromosome dynamics by driving anomalous density fluctuations. Nuclear shape fluctuations depend on motor strength, crosslinking, and chromosome-lamina binding. Therefore, complex chromatin dynamics and nuclear shape emerge from a minimal, active chromosome-lamina system.Comment: 18 pages, 21 figure

Generalized Lévy walks and the role of chemokines in migration of effector CD8+ T cells.

Chemokines have a central role in regulating processes essential to the immune function of T cells, such as their migration within lymphoid tissues and targeting of pathogens in sites of inflammation. Here we track T cells using multi-photon microscopy to demonstrate that the chemokine CXCL10 enhances the ability of CD8+ T cells to control the pathogen Toxoplasma gondii in the brains of chronically infected mice. This chemokine boosts T-cell function in two different ways: it maintains the effector T-cell population in the brain and speeds up the average migration speed without changing the nature of the walk statistics. Notably, these statistics are not Brownian; rather, CD8+ T-cell motility in the brain is well described by a generalized Lévy walk. According to our model, this unexpected feature enables T cells to find rare targets with more than an order of magnitude more efficiency than Brownian random walkers. Thus, CD8+ T-cell behaviour is similar to Lévy strategies reported in organisms ranging from mussels to marine predators and monkeys, and CXCL10 aids T cells in shortening the average time taken to find rare targets

“I’ve been doing this for years”: the COVID-19 pandemic and family caregiver isolation and loneliness

BackgroundFamily caregivers are family members or friends of care recipients who assist with activities of daily living, medication management, transportation, and help with finances among other activities. As a result of their caregiving, family caregivers are often considered a population at risk of experiencing increased stress, isolation, and loneliness. During the COVID-19 pandemic in the US, social isolation and decrease in social activities were a top concern among older adults and their family caregivers. Using secondary analysis of survey data as part of a multi-site implementation trial of a caregiver skills training program, we describe differences in caregiver experiences of loneliness before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsHealth and wellbeing surveys of family caregivers were collected on 422 family caregivers of veterans before and during COVID-19. Logistic regression modeling examined whether the loneliness differed between caregiver groups pre vs during COVID-19, using the UCLA 3-item loneliness measure. Rapid directed qualitative content analysis of open-ended survey questions was used to explore the context of how survey responses were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.ResultsThere were no significant differences in loneliness between caregivers pre vs during COVID-19. In open-ended responses regarding effects of COVID-19, caregivers described experiencing loneliness and social isolation; why they were unaffected by the pandemic; and how caregiving equipped them with coping strategies to manage negative pandemic-related effects.ConclusionLoneliness did not differ significantly between pre vs during COVID-19 caregivers. Future research could assess what specific characteristics are associated with caregivers who have resiliency, and identify caregivers who are more susceptible to experiencing loneliness. Understanding caregiver loneliness could assist other healthcare systems in developing and implementing caregiver support interventions

Filament Depolymerization Can Explain Chromosome Pulling during Bacterial Mitosis

Chromosome segregation is fundamental to all cells, but the force-generating mechanisms underlying chromosome translocation in bacteria remain mysterious. Caulobacter crescentus utilizes a depolymerization-driven process in which a ParA protein structure elongates from the new cell pole, binds to a ParB-decorated chromosome, and then retracts via disassembly, pulling the chromosome across the cell. This poses the question of how a depolymerizing structure can robustly pull the chromosome that disassembles it. We perform Brownian dynamics simulations with a simple, physically consistent model of the ParABS system. The simulations suggest that the mechanism of translocation is “self-diffusiophoretic”: by disassembling ParA, ParB generates a ParA concentration gradient so that the ParA concentration is higher in front of the chromosome than behind it. Since the chromosome is attracted to ParA via ParB, it moves up the ParA gradient and across the cell. We find that translocation is most robust when ParB binds side-on to ParA filaments. In this case, robust translocation occurs over a wide parameter range and is controlled by a single dimensionless quantity: the product of the rate of ParA disassembly and a characteristic relaxation time of the chromosome. This time scale measures the time it takes for the chromosome to recover its average shape after it is has been pulled. Our results suggest explanations for observed phenomena such as segregation failure, filament-length-dependent translocation velocity, and chromosomal compaction

Modulators of Cytoskeletal Reorganization in CA1 Hippocampal Neurons Show Increased Expression in Patients at Mid-Stage Alzheimer's Disease

During the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD), hippocampal neurons undergo cytoskeletal reorganization, resulting in degenerative as well as regenerative changes. As neurofibrillary tangles form and dystrophic neurites appear, sprouting neuronal processes with growth cones emerge. Actin and tubulin are indispensable for normal neurite development and regenerative responses to injury and neurodegenerative stimuli. We have previously shown that actin capping protein beta2 subunit, Capzb2, binds tubulin and, in the presence of tau, affects microtubule polymerization necessary for neurite outgrowth and normal growth cone morphology. Accordingly, Capzb2 silencing in hippocampal neurons resulted in short, dystrophic neurites, seen in neurodegenerative diseases including AD. Here we demonstrate the statistically significant increase in the Capzb2 expression in the postmortem hippocampi in persons at mid-stage, Braak and Braak stage (BB) III-IV, non-familial AD in comparison to controls. The dynamics of Capzb2 expression in progressive AD stages cannot be attributed to reactive astrocytosis. Moreover, the increased expression of Capzb2 mRNA in CA1 pyramidal neurons in AD BB III-IV is accompanied by an increased mRNA expression of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) receptor tyrosine kinase B (TrkB), mediator of synaptic plasticity in hippocampal neurons. Thus, the up-regulation of Capzb2 and TrkB may reflect cytoskeletal reorganization and/or regenerative response occurring in hippocampal CA1 neurons at a specific stage of AD progression

Statistical physical models of cellular motility

Cellular motility is required for a wide range of biological behaviors and functions, and the topic poses a number of interesting physical questions. In this work, we construct and analyze models of various aspects of cellular motility using tools and ideas from statistical physics. We begin with a Brownian dynamics model for actin-polymerization-driven motility, which is responsible for cell crawling and “rocketing” motility of pathogens. Within this model, we explore the robustness of self-diffusiophoresis, which is a general mechanism of motility. Using this mechanism, an object such as a cell catalyzes a reaction that generates a steady-state concentration gradient that propels the object in a particular direction. We then apply these ideas to a model for depolymerization-driven motility during bacterial chromosome segregation. We find that depolymerization and protein-protein binding interactions alone are sufficient to robustly pull a chromosome, even against large loads. Next, we investigate how forces and kinetics interact during eukaryotic mitosis with a many-microtubule model. Microtubules exert forces on chromosomes, but since individual microtubules grow and shrink in a force-dependent way, these forces lead to bistable collective microtubule dynamics, which provides a mechanism for chromosome oscillations and microtubule-based tension sensing. Finally, we explore kinematic aspects of cell motility in the context of the immune system. We develop quantitative methods for analyzing cell migration statistics collected during imaging experiments. We find that during chronic infection in the brain, T cells run and pause stochastically, following the statistics of a generalized Lévy walk. These statistics may contribute to immune function by mimicking an evolutionarily conserved efficient search strategy. Additionally, we find that naive T cells migrating in lymph nodes also obey non-Gaussian statistics. Altogether, our work demonstrates how physical principles and techniques can be applied to understand biological phenomena mechanistically and/or quantitatively

Statistical physical models of cellular motility

Cellular motility is required for a wide range of biological behaviors and functions, and the topic poses a number of interesting physical questions. In this work, we construct and analyze models of various aspects of cellular motility using tools and ideas from statistical physics. We begin with a Brownian dynamics model for actin-polymerization-driven motility, which is responsible for cell crawling and “rocketing” motility of pathogens. Within this model, we explore the robustness of self-diffusiophoresis, which is a general mechanism of motility. Using this mechanism, an object such as a cell catalyzes a reaction that generates a steady-state concentration gradient that propels the object in a particular direction. We then apply these ideas to a model for depolymerization-driven motility during bacterial chromosome segregation. We find that depolymerization and protein-protein binding interactions alone are sufficient to robustly pull a chromosome, even against large loads. Next, we investigate how forces and kinetics interact during eukaryotic mitosis with a many-microtubule model. Microtubules exert forces on chromosomes, but since individual microtubules grow and shrink in a force-dependent way, these forces lead to bistable collective microtubule dynamics, which provides a mechanism for chromosome oscillations and microtubule-based tension sensing. Finally, we explore kinematic aspects of cell motility in the context of the immune system. We develop quantitative methods for analyzing cell migration statistics collected during imaging experiments. We find that during chronic infection in the brain, T cells run and pause stochastically, following the statistics of a generalized Lévy walk. These statistics may contribute to immune function by mimicking an evolutionarily conserved efficient search strategy. Additionally, we find that naive T cells migrating in lymph nodes also obey non-Gaussian statistics. Altogether, our work demonstrates how physical principles and techniques can be applied to understand biological phenomena mechanistically and/or quantitatively

The interplay between asymmetric and symmetric DNA loop extrusion

© Banigan and Mirny. Chromosome compaction is essential for reliable transmission of genetic information. Experiments suggest that -1000-fold compaction is driven by condensin complexes that extrude chromatin loops, by progressively collecting chromatin fiber from one or both sides of the complex to form a growing loop. Theory indicates that symmetric two-sided loop extrusion can achieve such compaction, but recent single-molecule studies (Golfier et al., 2020) observed diverse dynamics of condensins that perform one-sided, symmetric two-sided, and asymmetric two-sided extrusion. We use simulations and theory to determine how these molecular properties lead to chromosome compaction. High compaction can be achieved if even a small fraction of condensins have two essential properties: A long residence time and the ability to perform two-sided (not necessarily symmetric) extrusion. In mixtures of condensins I and II, coupling two-sided extrusion and stable chromatin binding by condensin II promotes compaction. These results provide missing connections between single-molecule observations and chromosome-scale organization