JoVE | Peer Reviewed Scientific Video Journal

TOPICAL COLLECTIONS

In Vitro Reconstitution of Cytoskeleton Networks for Biomaterials, Biophysics and Active Matter Research

Guest Editor

Rae M Robertson-Anderson

University of San Diego, Department of Physics and Biophysics

Rae M Robertson-Anderson is Professor and Chair of the Department of Physics and Biophysics at University of San Diego. She received her BS in Physics from Georgetown University in 2003, where she was awarded a Luce Foundation Clare Boothe Luce Scholarship and elected into Phi Beta Kappa. She received her PhD in Physics from University of California, San Diego in 2007, funded by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Anderson was then awarded a National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein postdoctoral fellowship for her molecular biology postdoctoral research at The Scripps Research Institute before joining the faculty at USD in 2009. Robertson-Anderson has established an internationally-recognized research program to elucidate the microscale mechanics and macromolecular transport properties in bio-inspired soft and active matter systems. Her lab has pioneered novel optical tweezers microrheology and fluorescence microscopy techniques to probe these systems across broad spatiotemporal scales and from steady-state to far from equilibrium. Inspired by the crowded and composite nature of the biology, Robertson-Anderson is also a leading expert in the design and engineering of crowded biopolymer composites to address critical questions in soft and active matter physics. Robertson-Anderson has received over $4M in grants since 2010 to support her research, including prestigious awards such as a W.M. Keck Foundation Research Grant (2018), an NSF CAREER Award (2013), an Air Force Young Investigator Program Award (2012), and Research Corporation Cottrell Scholars Award (2010). She has published 53 peer-reviewed papers in top-ranking journals including PRL, Science Advances, Nature Communications and PNAS. Robertson-Anderson has given 34 invited talks at institutions and conferences around the world, has organized and hosted 4 soft matter research symposiums, and currently serves on advisory boards for Research Corporation, the Beckman Foundation, and the Murdock Charitable Trust.

Collection Overview

The cytoskeleton is a dynamic composite network of interacting biopolymers, including semiflexible actin filaments, rigid microtubules, and intermediate filaments that provide structural and mechanical support to the cells. Associated molecular motors and binding proteins restructure and adapt the cytoskeleton to allow cells to grow, change shape, stiffen, move, and even self-heal - enabling myriad cellular processes ranging from migration and division to mechanosensing. Beyond its significance in cellular biophysics, the cytoskeleton is also a quintessential example of active matter with potential materials applications ranging from wound healing and drug delivery to filtration and soft robotics. In an effort to dissect and demystify the interactions and contributions from the different cytoskeletal constituents that lead to signature cellular properties, researchers have developed powerful in vitro reconstitution methods to build and study cytoskeleton systems outside the cells. However, due to the complexity and non-equilibrium nature of these systems, as well as the labile nature of their constituents, in vitro reconstitution methods are often difficult to replicate from lab to lab. Assays for characterizing the mechanical and structural properties of reconstituted cytoskeleton systems are likewise inherently complicated and require careful optimization and expertise. This collection highlights the different reconstitution assays and experimental methods that researchers at the forefront of cytoskeleton research are using to recreate and elucidate cytoskeleton systems in an effort to advance biophysics and materials science alike.