Gaudenz Danuser

Assistant Professor
Laboratory for Computational Cell Biology, Department of Cell Biology
The Scripps Research Institute.

Degrees and Awards:
M.Sc., (Geodetical Engineering) Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) 1993 (Degree with distinction; Recepient of the ETH silver medal for the master thesis), Ph.D., (Electrical Engineering) Swiss Federal Institute of Technology 1997 (Recepient of the ETH silver medal for the doctoral thesis). Best paper by young authors award of the International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing 1996. Swiss National Science Foundation Fellowship for prospective researchers 1997 - 1998. Human Frontiers Science Program young insestigator award 2002 - 2005.

Research Interests:
We are interested in the dynamic assembly, disassembly and mechanical function of the cytoskeleton and how these events mediate important cellular behavior such as migration and cell division. To study these phenomena we develop computational models of cytoskeleton mechanics, where we link the molecular structure of the cytoskeleton to the forces that generate motile events. We put emphasis on the rigorous estimation of model parameters using experimental data. We develop image processing tools for a quantitative readout of cytoskeleton kinematics and spatial kinetics from fluorescence light microscope movies. Our models help us designing experimental strategies for modulating cytoskeleton dynamics by specific perturbation of one molecular factor. Variation analysis of the measured kinematics and kinetics then allow us to identify the model parameters that are related to the perturbation and to estimate the contribution of the perturbed factor to the overall cytoskeleton dynamics.

We refer to this approach as the Manipulate-Measure-Model-and-Manipulate (the 4M) paradigm. While we currently pursue the paradigm to investigate basic cellular behavior we plan to adopt it in the near future for biotechnological applications; including molecular diagnostics, targeted drug discovery, and cell-based sensors, in cases where cytoskeletal dynamics is a sensitive signal for the state of a disease or the activity of a molecular perturbant.

Research Figure:

A dynamic map of the actin cytoskeleton activity, as computed from Fluorescent Speckle Microscopy movies (Ponti et al. Biophys. J. 2003). Yellow - red: area of increasingly stronger assembly. Green - blue: area of increasingly stronger disassembly.