https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cambridge/oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/353655
type: CreativeWork
name: Traps, Tensions and Transmissions: The Unionisation of Resistance Movements against External Destabilising Forces; Design, Development and Deployment of Holographic System for Active Surveillance and Targeted Manipulation
description: Microscopic imaging of rapid biophysical processes often relies on high-contrast, high-resolution, and high-speed acquisition. However, confocal microscopes capable of such imaging lack the capacity to manipulate the sample or its surrounding environment in real-time. As a result, the possibility to non-invasively initiate, alter or halt a biochemical process during imaging is restricted. To overcome this limitation, we have established a sui generis versatile holographic system equipped with diverse photo-perturbation techniques including photo-manipulation, photo-activation, photo-ablation, optical-trapping and optogenetics, combined with the ability for active surveillance and monitoring of biological targets through confocal imaging and potential capacity for super-resolution imaging. This hybrid system is comprised of a spinning disk confocal unit, a spatial light modulator and a digital micromirror device, and is able to elucidate the dynamics of molecules, measure local forces, and re-localise or switch molecular behaviour. Here, we present the first application of this hybrid system to the study of cell shape regulation and the role of effective membrane tension in unionising actomyosin movement to resist external deformational and destabilising forces. We demonstrate that simultaneously trapping and unfolding the cell membrane, quantitatively imaging actin network dynamics and measuring cellular forces, allowing for a multi-level understanding of how the interplay of membrane tension and actin dynamics governs cell shape. Specifically, our results show a link between the movements of myosin that lead to a surge in actin concentration and cause an increase in the effective membrane tension. These results provide direct evidence for the role of physical interactions by plasma membrane in interpreting the environment that surrounds the cell to regulate and control cell dynamics and by extension cell behaviours. Furthermore, the results strongly reiterate the r…
abstract: Microscopic imaging of rapid biophysical processes often relies on high-contrast, high-resolution, and high-speed acquisition. However, confocal microscopes capable of such imaging lack the capacity to manipulate the sample or its surrounding environment in real-time. As a result, the possibility to non-invasively initiate, alter or halt a biochemical process during imaging is restricted. To overcome this limitation, we have established a sui generis versatile holographic system equipped with diverse photo-perturbation techniques including photo-manipulation, photo-activation, photo-ablation, optical-trapping and optogenetics, combined with the ability for active surveillance and monitoring of biological targets through confocal imaging and potential capacity for super-resolution imaging. This hybrid system is comprised of a spinning disk confocal unit, a spatial light modulator and a digital micromirror device, and is able to elucidate the dynamics of molecules, measure local forces, and re-localise or switch molecular behaviour. Here, we present the first application of this hybrid system to the study of cell shape regulation and the role of effective membrane tension in unionising actomyosin movement to resist external deformational and destabilising forces. We demonstrate that simultaneously trapping and unfolding the cell membrane, quantitatively imaging actin network dynamics and measuring cellular forces, allowing for a multi-level understanding of how the interplay of membrane tension and actin dynamics governs cell shape. Specifically, our results show a link between the movements of myosin that lead to a surge in actin concentration and cause an increase in the effective membrane tension. These results provide direct evidence for the role of physical interactions by plasma membrane in interpreting the environment that surrounds the cell to regulate and control cell dynamics and by extension cell behaviours. Furthermore, the results strongly reiterate the r…
author: Memon, Ahsan
language: eng
keywords: holographic traps, membrane tension
license: https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/5ad24dbd-fec0-408c-acb5-ff5bdd1dcf2c/download
license: https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/
date published: 2022-07-24
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:00Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.99736