2019 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
On the Role of Mechanical Interactions in Cellular Systems
| Project/Area Number |
19F19705
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| Research Institution | Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University |
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Principal Investigator |
フリード エリオット 沖縄科学技術大学院大学, 数理力学と材料科学ユニット, 教授 (70735761)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KWIECINSKI JAMES 沖縄科学技術大学院大学, 数理力学と材料科学ユニット, 外国人特別研究員
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| Project Period (FY) |
2019-10-11 – 2022-03-31
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| Keywords | Mathematical model / cellular systems / protein interaction / immune system / macromolecules / B-cell |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
Since starting the JSPS fellowship at the beginning of September, Dr. Kwiecinski has provided a theory for an experimental paper that has been accepted for publication in Applied Physics Letters.
He is now in the final draft stage for his paper entitled "Membrane-mediated interactions of anisotropic proteins", which provides a generalized theory describing interactions between cellular proteins, with plans for the work, given that it is highly mathematical, to be submitted to the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics' Journal of Applied Mathematics. This paper is a significant first step into the rest of his proposed research plan for the JSPS Fellowship.
Dr. Kwiecinski is also finishing a sole author paper on a mathematical model describing the relaxation of rotational behavior of viscoelastic solids entitled "Relaxation of Viscoelastic Tumblers with Application to 1I/2017 (`Oumuamua) and 4179 Toutatis" with plans to submit this to the Monthly Notices for the Royal Astronomical Society.
Furthermore, he is in talks of collaborating with another JSPS Scholar, Simon Hellemans, regarding sex gene propagation in termite colonies, and am currently devising mathematical models with which Dr. Hellemans' results can be explained.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
There are numerous reasons why Dr. Kwiecinski's current research plan is proceeding as planned. As described in the "Current Research Achievements" section, he is reading through the final draft of a generalized theory for protein interaction on flat cellular membranes which is a very significant result in this field of study. This work will be the first instance that a mathematically correct theory has been devised and produces a result that reduces to all other previous works in the field. It definitively answers the open question in cellular biology as to why proteins will attract to equilibrium separations, given that theory predicts they usually repel to infinity, whilst a single modern work has shown that they will attract without bound. His new theory suggests a regime of possible protein properties which will allow such equilibrium separations to be achieved, which has never before been done.
Furthermore, finalizing a sole author work is a significant step into advancing his career as a young academic which is a testament to his independence as a theoretical and interdisciplinary researcher. He has many more ideas to pursue during his research tenure and he has a clear path as to how to proceed in obtaining novel and interesting results and publishing papers with impact.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
The generalized theory will provide the foundation for two collaborations Dr. Kwiecinski had in mind: The first further studies the protein aggregation phenomenon using simulation. He has been in talks with Dr. Hiroshi Noguchi over at the University of Tokyo regarding scientific problems his new generalized theory can be applied to, given Dr. Noguchi's expertise in molecular dynamics simulations. The hope, as a theorist, is to produce a scientifically significant work that makes Dr. Kwiecinski's theory noticed in the more "mainstream" and "non-mathematical" communities.
The second collaboration was with an experimental team in the United Kingdom which focuses on the interaction of molecular tethers, necessary for the B-cell to respond to diseased microorganisms in the body. Though his theory does not exactly model this phenomenon, he has a clear idea as to how to devise one using the current work as a foundation. The hope is to provide a theory that explains the contradictory experimental data that has been published thus far.
There are other theoretical works that Dr. Kwiecinski had in mind, such as studying the aggregation phenomenon and further generalizing it for cylindrical or spherical geometries, all of which will be built on this current theory he has devised. He also hopes to produce another sole author work regarding theories of membrane wrinkling.
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