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Kumar Lab, UC Berkeley @kumarlabucb.bsky.social · Feb 12

Congratulations to all the new Berkeley NAE inductees, including our collaborator of ~20y and former @qb3-berkeley.bsky.social director Dave Schaffer! Well-deserved and long overdue!!

UC Berkeley Engineering @berkeleyengineer.bsky.social · Feb 11

The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) announced today that three UC Berkeley engineering faculty members — Kristin Persson, Stuart Russell and David Schaffer — have been elected to its ranks. The number of engineering faculty members in the NAE is now 73.

Three UC Berkeley engineering professors named to NAE - Berkeley Engineering

Kristin Persson, Stuart Russell and David Schaffer inducted by the prestigious organization

engineering.berkeley.edu

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Kumar Lab, UC Berkeley @kumarlabucb.bsky.social · Feb 2

Terribly sad to learn of Dr. Michael Sheetz's passing. Mike was a foundational figure in mechanobiology and a strong advocate for the field. He also made us all better by holding himself and others to the highest intellectual standards. Condolences and best wishes to Mike's family and friends.

lab-scita.bsky.social @lab-scita.bsky.social · Feb 1

Deeply saddened by the passing of Prof. Mike Sheetz, a true leader in Mechanobiology. His groundbreaking work on Kinesin, membrane organization, and mechanotransduction has left an indelible mark. A tremendous loss to science. #Mechanobiology #Science #LaskerAward

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Kumar Lab, UC Berkeley @kumarlabucb.bsky.social · Jan 15

Outstanding opportunity to lead a world-class core facility within @qb3-berkeley.bsky.social. Check it out and spread the word!

Jim Hurley @jimhurley.bsky.social · Jan 15

Scientific Director, Cal-Cryo. We are looking for an outstanding microscopist to run our cryo-EM facility (two Krioses and an Arctica), increase training, engagement, and collaboration on campus, expand our user base, and join our community of cutting edge cryo-EM researchers. tinyurl.com/ykasna3p

Scientific Director, Cal-Cryo@QB3, UC Berkeley’s Cryo-EM Facility

University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!

tinyurl.com

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Kumar Lab, UC Berkeley @kumarlabucb.bsky.social · Dec 19

Thank you for another brilliant thread! Extraordinary that you were able to perform this massive service while directing a dept, writing a textbook, and (BTW) running & supporting a world-class research program. Could all be full-time jobs... pls consider future Bluetorial on time management!

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Kumar Lab, UC Berkeley @kumarlabucb.bsky.social · Dec 18

Please add us if we're not already on. Thank you!!

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Kumar Lab, UC Berkeley @kumarlabucb.bsky.social · Dec 18

Please add us if we're not already on. Thank you!!

Kumar Lab, UC Berkeley @kumarlabucb.bsky.social · Dec 3

Amazing JB thread on JHU biophysics. Despite (because of?) its complexity, the PMB delivered a superb education... The 1st y core course in biophysical chemistry – led in the late 90s by Doug Barrick and Bertrand Garcia-Moreno – laid a rock solid foundation that continues to pay off decades later 🙏

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · Dec 3

Warm Water Baths and Three Biophysics Departments

A long and somewhat twisted (and very personal) path (with bits of science sprinkled in)
(Apologies for the length, lots to cover)

a cartoon says hey everybody an old man 's talking while bart simpson looks on

ALT: a cartoon says hey everybody an old man 's talking while bart simpson looks on

media.tenor.com

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Kumar Lab, UC Berkeley @kumarlabucb.bsky.social · Dec 3

And thank you for posting this very thread today! Had no idea the multi-unit history was so complex and dramatic. Makes it all the more impressive that the JHU biophysics ecosystem has been so effective.

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Kumar Lab, UC Berkeley @kumarlabucb.bsky.social · Dec 3

💯. Not stated enough!

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · Dec 3

I discovered something really important:

I really delighted in helping others succeed. It was (almost) better than exciting results from my own laboratory.

I regard this as one of the most important attributes of a chair.

38/n

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Kumar Lab, UC Berkeley @kumarlabucb.bsky.social · Dec 2

Experimental studies were led by Erika Ding, with Takashi Yokokura conducting hugely insightful SCFT modeling under Prof. Rui Wang's guidance. Erika and Takashi are incredibly talented and motivated ChemE PhD students ... if you see one or both in a future faculty search, give them a close look!

Kumar Lab, UC Berkeley @kumarlabucb.bsky.social · Dec 2

This may explain why M makes such important functional contributions in mouse genetic models, and why H is so thoroughly phosphorylated (another longstanding mystery) ... though additional experiments with M and H mutants reveal a much more complex picture - see paper for details.

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Kumar Lab, UC Berkeley @kumarlabucb.bsky.social · Dec 2

Conversely, H's charges are much more mixed, yielding a more condensed structure. However, H does swell and approach the brush periphery when H is charged via multi-site phosphorylation at its KSP repeats – just as it is typically found in the axon.

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Kumar Lab, UC Berkeley @kumarlabucb.bsky.social · Dec 2

Very briefly, we show that despite M's smaller size, it populates the outer reaches of the brush at physiol ionic strength bc a key portion of the protein has a relatively segregated charge distribution. As a result M behaves like a polyelectrolyte, with charge repulsion driving chain expansion.

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Kumar Lab, UC Berkeley @kumarlabucb.bsky.social · Dec 2

Since AFM can only measure an aggregate brush height, the expts were also closely coupled to (and guided by) SCFT-based modeling led by Rui Wang's lab to gain insight into internal brush structure.

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Kumar Lab, UC Berkeley @kumarlabucb.bsky.social · Dec 2

We sought to gain insight into this longstanding paradox by preparing recombinant L, M, and H, assembling them as oriented, mixed-subunit "brushes" on surfaces, and characterizing these brushes w AFM and related surface techniques.

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Kumar Lab, UC Berkeley @kumarlabucb.bsky.social · Dec 2

As the name implies, H is larger than M and should protrude further from the NF core and drive network assembly. However, mouse genetics studies from the 90s/00s implicates M much more strongly in governing axonal caliber and radial growth. H is practically dispensable. How can this be?

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Kumar Lab, UC Berkeley @kumarlabucb.bsky.social · Dec 2

NFs are IFs composed of 3 subunits (light, medium, heavy a.k.a. L, M & H) that co-assemble into bottlebrush-like structures. The C terminal IDRs of M and H (and to a lesser extent L) form the "bristles" of the brush and have been long presumed to mediate interactions between adjacent NFs.

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Kumar Lab, UC Berkeley @kumarlabucb.bsky.social · Dec 2

Excited to share our new paper in @PNASNews on mixed, reconstituted neurofilaments (NFs)! This work was led by ChemE PhD student Erika Ding and done in collab w Prof. Rui Wang and ChemE PhD student Takashi Yokokura here at Berkeley pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

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Kumar Lab, UC Berkeley @kumarlabucb.bsky.social · Nov 30

As a JHU trainee of that era, these backstories are riveting. Pls keep them coming! Would love a thread on JHU biophysics... Impressively tight culture given the 2 campus/dept/PhD program setup. And so much informal dialogue, e.g. fac chalk talk dinners. How did it start and what made it work?

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Kumar Lab, UC Berkeley @kumarlabucb.bsky.social · Nov 27

Please add us. Thanks!

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Kumar Lab, UC Berkeley @kumarlabucb.bsky.social · Nov 24

Please add us. Thanks!

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Kumar Lab, UC Berkeley @kumarlabucb.bsky.social · Nov 23

Remember the 2008 call from @jeremymberg.bsky.social well! The DP2 was our first NIH award and key to launching our lab. Fascinating to hear the inside story, and grateful to all who created this remarkable program.

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · Nov 23

Following a suggestion from @benecal.bsky.social I will refer to these threads as "skeetorials" and will use this gif logo.

Today's skeetorial is about the NIH Director's New Innovator Award with three different heroes (all in government).

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a cartoon of homer simpson holding a card

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media.tenor.com

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Kumar Lab, UC Berkeley @kumarlabucb.bsky.social · Nov 20

What a pleasure visiting the iconic @notredame.bsky.social to give the AME/BioE seminar! Exciting to hear about the push to build in Bioengineering & Life Sciences, including some brilliant recent faculty recruitments and new lab space. Many thanks to @dhpgroup.bsky.social and colleagues ☘️

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Kumar Lab, UC Berkeley @kumarlabucb.bsky.social · Nov 18

Paper also includes AFM measurements of both normal and tumor-laden brain to help guide material design. Congrats to Emily and other authors!

Kumar Lab, UC Berkeley @kumarlabucb.bsky.social · Nov 18

We show that VE matrices support a special leader follower mode of invasion in which leader cells use hyaluronidases to pave paths, with followers then exploit. Invasive morphologies closely resemble those previousy seen by intravital imaging

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