Matching Items (2)
Filtering by

Clear all filters

Description
The cell is a dense environment composes of proteins, nucleic acids, as well as other small molecules, which are constantly bombarding each other and interacting. These interactions and the diffusive motions are driven by internal thermal fluctuations. Upon collision, molecules can interact and form complexes. It is of interest to

The cell is a dense environment composes of proteins, nucleic acids, as well as other small molecules, which are constantly bombarding each other and interacting. These interactions and the diffusive motions are driven by internal thermal fluctuations. Upon collision, molecules can interact and form complexes. It is of interest to learn kinetic parameters such as reaction rates of one molecule converting to different species or two molecules colliding and form a new species as well as to learn diffusion coefficients.

Several experimental measurements can probe diffusion coefficients at the single-molecule and bulk level. The target of this thesis is on single-molecule methods, which can assess diffusion coefficients at the individual molecular level. For instance, super resolution methods like stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) and photo activated localization microscopy (PALM), have a high spatial resolution with the cost of lower temporal resolution. Also, there is a different group of methods, such as MINFLUX, multi-detector tracking, which can track a single molecule with high spatio-temporal resolution. The problem with these methods is that they are only applicable to very diluted samples since they need to ensure existence of a single molecule in the region of interest (ROI).

In this thesis, the goal is to have the best of both worlds by achieving high spatio-temporal resolutions without being limited to a few molecules. To do so, one needs to refocus on fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) as a method that applies to both in vivo and in vitro systems with a high temporal resolution and relies on multiple molecules traversing a confocal volume for an extended period of time. The difficulty here is that the interpretation of the signal leads to different estimates for the kinetic parameters such as diffusion coefficients based on a different number of molecules we consider in the model. It is for this reason that the focus of this thesis is now on using Bayesian nonparametrics (BNPs) as a way to solve this model selection problem and extract kinetic parameters such as diffusion coefficients at the single-molecule level from a few photons, and thus with the highest temporal resolution as possible.
ContributorsJazani, Sina (Author) / Presse, Steve (Thesis advisor) / Matyushov, Dmitry (Committee member) / Levitus, Marcia (Committee member) / Fricks, John (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
132500-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
OP50 Esherichia coli is a Gram-negative bacterium with a fast replication rate and can be easily manipulated, making it a model species for many science disciplines. To probe this bacterium’s search strategy, cultures were starved and the cell velocity was probed at various points later in time after perturbing the

OP50 Esherichia coli is a Gram-negative bacterium with a fast replication rate and can be easily manipulated, making it a model species for many science disciplines. To probe this bacterium’s search strategy, cultures were starved and the cell velocity was probed at various points later in time after perturbing the buffer in which the bacteria were located. To start, we added E.coli OP50 filtrate. In yet another experiment filtrate from a Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus (Gram-negative predator) culture was added to monitor the OP50’s differential response to cues from its environment. Using MATLAB code, thousands of E.coli tracks were measured.
ContributorsSanchez, Alec Jesus (Author) / Presse, Steve (Thesis director) / Gile, Gillian (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05