Biophysics of Cellular Membranes

More than half of cellular reactions occur within or on the surface of the membrane, including the plasma membrane, endomembranes, and various vesicles. Explore cell membrane biophysical and physicochemical processes including thermal conformational fluctuation, thermal diffusion, phase separation, and surface prewetting, and consider how cells might take advantage of these processes to enable their signaling functions in cellular biology, immunology, neurobiology, and in cancer. A combination of lectures and student presentations on these subjects is complemented by experiments on direct visualization of receptors and downstream signaling molecules at the level of single molecules in live cells, providing the basis for the studies of these research fields. This interdisciplinary field combines aspects of cell biology, chemistry, and physics, and welcomes students from across these disciplines.