Final Defense

Orrin Shindell, UT-Austin

"Pattern Formation in Cell-Sized Membranes"

2:00pm, RLM 11.204

Abstract: When a living immune cell adheres to a target cell it forms a dynamic structure at the interface between the two cells that is required for the body’s immune response. It is not known how immune cells form these structures. In this talk, we will present our experimental system, modeled after adhering cell membranes, which forms a dynamic fingering pattern with time and length scales similar to those exhibited by immune cells. We will also present a mathematical description of the process based on the thermal theory of tension induced pore formation and confirm that the theory and experimental data match. Finally, we will comment on the relationship between our work and what others have done.