Excited to share our preprint describing a framework to distinguish correlative from causative functional interactions from fluorescence time-lapse imaging of complex molecular system such as the actin regulatory network during lamellipodia formation https://t.co/FJSjlD7nC0 1/

That's a wrap for the u-track 3D paper! Very grateful to all my co-author @legant_lab , @jennyqzou , @kD3AN, @tadastic , @ErikWelf, A. David, D. Gerlich, @RetoPaul, @EricBetzig and the precious guidance from @gdanuser1 :).

"The decision whether or not to bear a child is central to a woman’s life, to her wellbeing and dignity. It’s a decision she must make for herself" - Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Was a fun project to say the least and learned a lot along the way, which was the most valuable experience besides great peer-review hosted by @CellSystemsCP more coming … soon!

Will go well with our recently introduced Granger-causal inference framework of molecular processes in the cell 👀 Link to previous thread and preprint: https://t.co/bnaYuuu3pw & https://t.co/pQsYx8TCJL

An application of non-linear image-registration to enable dynamic analyses of molecular processes across the entire cell from Xuexia Jiang/DanuserLab @gdanuser1 https://t.co/JBJp95dzK2

Here’s a wild story on how we tried to piece the Dead Sea Scrolls “puzzle” by sequencing ancient DNA extracted from the animal skins on which the scrolls were written. Please read the @CellCellPress paper, retweet and checkout my short thread👇

Another open #PHDPosition in #ComputerVision for #CellBiology. We are looking for an enthusiastic student to push the envelope in the analysis of molecular dynamics across scales and automate navigation in 5D datasets. Info at https://t.co/ymOf1m8sZC. Deadline June 30th!

… our work is the crystallization of my friendship (incl. some heated discussion over terminology and interpretation of the results :D) with my colleague statistician Jungsik Noh @noh_jungsik and everybody involved in this work!! 12/12

Finally, this work represents the multi-disciplinary and collaborative environment at the heart of the Danuser lab @gdanuser1 and … 11/

We hope this work opens new avenues to discover new insights into the function of molecular systems haunted by functional redundancy, nonlinear signaling circuitry and instantaneous adaptation. Thank you for reading this far! Hope you enjoy reading our work. 10/

Our framework further captures actin-independent function of mDia1 at the lamellipodia front and further suggest the existence of two distinct actin network architectures independently driving edge motion, two observation inaccessible without our perturbation-free approach! 9/

Correlation is not Causation! 8/

When we apply our Granger-causality (GC) analysis based on spatially propagating autoregressive model detailed in our preprint (please read😉), we identify a causal chain from Arp2/3 -> actin -> edge motion at the lamellipodia front and Arp2/3 not directly causing edge motion! 7/

First, taking the most well-documented proteins in lamellipodial dynamics actin and the Arp2/3 complex as an example, we determine that both proteins highly correlate with edge motion. However, … (drum rolls; spoiler alert) 6/

We imaged the recruitment of actin and select actin regulators in the lamellipodia of human U2OS osteosarcoma cells and extracted their spatiotemporal recruitment profiles in lamellipodia partitioned into different layers from the edge. 5/

Using multivariate time-series analysis of spatiotemporal molecular and cell morphological dynamics of actin, actin regulators and the lamellipodia, we infer Granger-causal (GC) relations between Arp2/3, mDia1, VASP and leading-edge motion dynamics. 4/

The dogma in the field prescribes that ‘mechanism’ of cellular regulation ought to be deduced by phenotyping under component perturbation. But these 'phenotypes' show how the network adapts and not necessary the function of the targeted component in its unperturbed state. 3/

Many cell functions are governed by molecular systems with significant functional overlap and nonlinearity, incl. redundancy and feed-back and feed-forward interactions. The actin regulatory network for lamellipodia formation is a prototypical example of such system. 2/

Heterogeneity in Metastatic Potential of Cancer Cells Is Revealed En Masse https://t.co/IhXLTPHvzX