Cell biophysics

Students will learn how quantitative approaches are used to identify physical principles that control several aspects of cell biology, from membrane transport to vesicle trafficking and mechanobiology. Emphasis will be given on how the integrated activity of biomolecules fulfill a cellular task, such as generation of action potentials self-sustained oscillators and signaling cascades propagating and amplifying a signal in time and space. The aim is to show what quantitative tools can achieve beyond the mere collecting and archiving of facts. The final goal is to understand in detail an action potential and to translate it into mathematical equation for modeling. The course consists of lectures, experimental lab work and solution of practical problems meant to facilitate a quantitative understanding of cellular functions.

At the end of this course the students will be able to measure and analyze single channel data, macroscopic currents and action potentials recorded from electrically excitable cells. Students will be further able to reproduce action potential using a mathematical model and perform basic prediction of how cellular factors can influence its duration and shape. Student will compute neurophysiological simulations using the program "Neuron" ( https://neuronsimulator.github.io/nrn/). Students will also learn how a cell perceives and translates physical stimuli such as voltage, light, pressure, into cellular pathways. During the course students will read and critically discuss original papers and will be trained to present them in front of the class to learn how to correctly interpret and communicate results.