Systems Properties of Cells

Functions in all forms of lives are performed through collective behavior of interacting biological molecules in space and time. While reductionist approach in the past decades has successfully identified numerous biological molecules of functional importance, a remaining question is how these molecules function together spatially and temporally as a “system” for cell survival and physiological homeostasis. The Laboratory for Cell Dynamics is working to understand the systems properties of cells, including biological oscillators, switches, and trigger waves especially those that control cell death, proliferation and metabolic homeostasis. We use quantitative experimental approaches, modeling and informatics.

The illustration to the right shows trigger waves of ferroptosis propagating outward from dead cells (the bottom left white dots) through lipid peroxidation signals (the yellow ring between dead and living cells) at the wave fronts. This image is taken from a video by Hannah Co.