Cytoskeletal Networks

We investigate the transport properties of colloidal particles and DNA molecules in cytoskeleton networks made of entangled and/or cross-linked actin and microtubule filaments. Lab members use DDM and light-sheet microscopy with in vitro networks to measure how the crowded biopolymer networks impede motion of particles and macromolecules.

Team members:

Ryan McGorty

Associate Professor of Physics and Biophysics at USD

Devynn Wulstein

Undergraduate Student
Alumni

Christelle Matsuda

Undergraduate Student
Alumni

Hannah Rasmussen

Undergraduate Student
Alumni

Karthik Reddy Peddireddy

Post-doc

Gina Aguirre

Undergraduate Student
Alumni

Jonathan Garamella

Former post-doc

Gregor Leech

Post-bac researcher

Publications on topic:

Design and Building of a Customizable, Single-Objective, Light-Sheet Fluorescence Microscope for the Visualization of Cytoskeleton Networks Nathan Felcher, Daisy Achiriloaie, Brian Lee, *Ryan McGorty*, Janet Sheung Published in JoVE, January 2024 (see publication) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Light Sheet Microscopy

Kinesin and myosin motors compete to drive rich multi-phase dynamics in programmable cytoskeletal composites *Ryan McGorty*, Christopher Currie, Jonathan Michel, Mehrzad Sasanpour, Christopher Gunter, K Alice Lindsay, Michael J Rust, Moumita Das, Jennifer L Ross, Rae M. Robertson-Anderson Published in PNAS Nexus, July 2023 (see publication) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Differential Dynamic Microscopy

Motor-driven advection competes with crowding to drive spatiotemporally heterogeneous transport in cytoskeleton composites Janet Y. Sheung, *Jonathan Garamella*, Stella K. Kahl, Brian Y. Lee, *Ryan McGorty*, Rae M. Robertson-Anderson Published in Frontiers in Physics, November 2022 (see publication) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Differential Dynamic Microscopy

Reconstituting and Characterizing Actin-Microtubule Composites with Tunable Motor-Driven Dynamics and Mechanics Mehrzad Sasanpour, Daisy H. Achiriloaie, Gloria Lee, *Gregor Leech*, Christopher Currie, K. Alice Lindsay, Jennifer L. Ross, *Ryan McGorty*, Rae M. Robertson-Anderson Published in JoVE, August 2022 (see publication) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks

Quantifying Cytoskeleton Dynamics Using Differential Dynamic Microscopy Hannah N. Verwei, Gloria Lee, *Gregor Leech*, Irene Isturiz Petitjean, Gijsje H. Koenderink, Rae M. Robertson-Anderson, *Ryan McGorty* Published in JoVE, June 2022 (see publication) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Differential Dynamic Microscopy

Active cytoskeletal composites display emergent tunable contractility and restructuring Gloria Lee, *Gregor Leech*, Pancy Lwin, Jonathan Michel, Christopher Currie, Michael J. Rust, Jennifer L. Ross, *Ryan McGorty*, Moumita Das, Rae M. Robertson-Anderson Published in Soft Matter, October 2021 (see publication) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks

Subtle changes in crosslinking drive diverse anomalous transport characteristics in actin-microtubule networks Sylas Anderson, *Jonathan Garamella*, Serenity Adalbert, *Ryan McGorty*, Rae M Robertson-Anderson Published in Soft Matter, March 2021 (see publication) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Differential Dynamic Microscopy

Myosin-driven actin-microtubule networks exhibit self-organized contractile dynamics Gloria Lee, *Gregor Leech*, Michael J. Rust, Moumita Das, *Ryan McGorty*, Jennifer L. Ross, Rae M Robertson-Anderson Published in Science Advances, February 2021 (see publication) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Differential Dynamic Microscopy

Anomalous and heterogeneous DNA transport in biomimetic cytoskeleton networks *Jonathan Garamella*, Kathryn Regan, *Gina Aguirre*, *Ryan J McGorty*, Rae M Robertson-Anderson Published in Soft Matter, July 2020 (see publication) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Light Sheet Microscopy

Topology-dependent anomalous dynamics of ring and linear DNA are sensitive to cytoskeleton crosslinking *Devynn Wulstein*, Kathryn Regan, *Jonathan Garamella*, *Ryan McGorty*, Rae M Robertson-Anderson Published in Science Advances, December 2019 (see publication) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Differential Dynamic Microscopy, Light Sheet Microscopy

Filament Rigidity Vies with Mesh Size in Determining Anomalous Diffusion in Cytoskeleton Sylas J. Anderson, *Christelle Matsuda*, *Jonathan Garamella*, *Karthik Reddy Peddireddy Rae M Robertson-Anderson*, *Ryan McGorty* Published in Biomacromolecules, November 2019 (see publication) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Differential Dynamic Microscopy, Light Sheet Microscopy

Bridging the spatiotemporal scales of macromolecular transport in crowded biomimetic systems Kathryn Regan, *Devynn Wulstein*, *Hannah Rasmussen*, *Ryan McGorty*, Rae M. Robertson-Anderson Published in Soft Matter, February 2019 (see publication) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Differential Dynamic Microscopy, Light Sheet Microscopy

Presentations:

Tuning the dynamics of active cytoskeleton composites via microtubule stabilization Maya Hendija, Michael Rust, Moumita Das, Megan Valentine, *Ryan McGorty*, Jennifer Ross, Rae Robertson-Anderson Presented at APS March Meeting, March 2025 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks

Characterization of Dynamically Restructuring Soft Materials with High Throughput Microscopy Techniques Aditya Sriram, Qiaopeng Chen, Ayan Das, Katarina Matic, Jonathan Michel, Maya Hendija, Nimisha Krishnan, Keegan Tonry, Michael Rust, Jennifer Ross, Moumita Das, *Ryan McGorty*, Megan Valentine, Rae Robertson-Anderson Presented at APS March Meeting, March 2025 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks

High Throughput Screening towards the Rational Design of Active Matter Rae M. Robertson-Anderson, Jonathan A. Michel, Qiaopeng Chen, *Karthik Reddy Peddireddy*, Michael J. Rust, Jennifer L. Ross, Moumita Das, *Ryan McGorty*, Megan T. Valentine Presented at APS March Meeting, March 2024 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks

Nonlinear local straining leads to non-equilibrium deformation fields and dynamics of motor-driven cytoskeleton composites Mehrzad Sasanpour, Daisy H. Achiriloaie, Maya Hendija, *Karthik R. Peddireddy*, *Ryan McGorty*, Rae Robertson-Anderson Presented at APS March Meeting, March 2023 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Differential Dynamic Microscopy

Nonlinear Mechanics and Stress Propagation in Out-of-Equilibrium Cytoskeleton Composites Daisy H. Achiriloaie, Kit K. Bennett, Mehrzad Sasanpour, *Karthik Peddireddy*, Michael J. Rust, Moumita Das, Megan T. Valentine, Janet Y. Sheung, Jennifer L. Ross, *Ryan McGorty*, Rae Robertson-Anderson Presented at APS March Meeting, March 2023 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Differential Dynamic Microscopy

Motor-driven advection competes with crowding to drive spatiotemporally heterogeneous transport in cytoskeleton composites Brian Y. Lee, Janet Y. Sheung, *Jonathan Garamella*, Stella Kahl, *Ryan McGorty*, Rae Robertson-Anderson Presented at APS March Meeting, March 2023 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Differential Dynamic Microscopy

Motor-driven advection competes with macromolecular crowding to drive spatiotemporally heterogeneous transport in cytoskeleton composites Janet Y. Sheung, *Jonathan Garamella*, Stella Kahl, Brian Y. Lee, Nadia Schwartz Bolef, Daisy H. Achiriloaie, Jennifer L. Ross, *Ryan McGorty*, Rae Robertson-Anderson Presented at APS March Meeting, March 2023 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Differential Dynamic Microscopy

DNA transport within confined motor-driven cytoskeletal networks *Mehdi Shafiei Aporvari*, *Philip Neill*, Daisy H. Achiriloaie, *Ryan McGorty*, Rae Robertson-Anderson Presented at APS March Meeting, March 2023 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Differential Dynamic Microscopy

Optical tweezers and DDM characterize time-varying strain fields in kinesin-driven cytoskeleton composites Mehrzad Sasanpour, Daisy Achiriloaie, *Karthik Peddireddy*, *Ryan McGorty*, Rae Robertson-Anderson Presented at Biophysical Society Annual Meeting, February 2023 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks

Mechanics and stress propagation in non-equilibrium cytoskeleton composites Daisy Achiriloaie, Mehrzad Sasanpour, *Karthik Peddireddy*, *Ryan McGorty*, Janet Sheung, Rae Robertson-Anderson Presented at Biophysical Society Annual Meeting, February 2023 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks

DNA dynamics in crowded cell-sized droplets *Mehdi Shafiei Aporvari*, *Steven Dang*, *Juexin Marfai*, Kara Coursey, *Ryan McGorty*, Rae M. Robertson-Anderson Presented at APS March Meeting, March 2022 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Differential Dynamic Microscopy

Tunable Non-Equilibrium Dynamics of Motor-Driven Cytoskeleton Composites Daisy H. Achiriloaie, Christopher Currie, Maya Hendija, *Ryan McGorty*, Jennifer L. Ross, Moumita Das, Michael J. Rust, Janet Y. Sheung, Rae M. Robertson-Anderson Presented at APS March Meeting, March 2022 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Differential Dynamic Microscopy

DNA transport and conformational dynamics in active cytoskeleton composites *Jonathan Garamella*, Serenity Adalbert, *Gina Aguirre*, *Ryan McGorty*, Rae M. Robertson-Anderson Presented at APS March Meeting, March 2021 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Differential Dynamic Microscopy

Differential Dynamic Microscopy of Active Actin-Microtubule Networks *Gregor Leech*, Gloria Lee, Michael Rust, Moumita Das, Jennifer L. Ross, *Ryan McGorty*, Rae M. Robertson-Anderson Presented at APS March Meeting, March 2021 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Differential Dynamic Microscopy

Active Restructuring of Myosin-Driven Actin-Microtubule Networks Christopher Currie, Gloria Lee, Michael Rust, Moumita Das, Leila Farhadi, Jennifer L. Ross, *Ryan McGorty*, Rae M. Robertson-Anderson Presented at APS March Meeting, March 2021 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks

Tuning Dynamics of Myosin-Driven Actin-Microtubule Networks Gloria Lee, *Gregor Leech*, Christopher Currie, Michael Rust, Jennifer L. Ross, *Ryan McGorty*, Rae M. Robertson-Anderson Presented at APS March Meeting, March 2021 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Differential Dynamic Microscopy

Anomalous transport across scales in crosslinked actin-microtubule composites Sylas Anderson, *Jonathan Garamella*, *Ryan McGorty*, Rae M. Robertson-Anderson Presented at APS March Meeting, March 2020 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Differential Dynamic Microscopy

Non-ergodic transport and conformational dynamics of DNA in biomimetic cytoskeleton networks *Jonathan Garamella*, *Gina Aguirre*, Kathryn Regan, *Ryan McGorty*, Rae M. Robertson-Anderson Presented at APS March Meeting, March 2020 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Differential Dynamic Microscopy

Connecting microscale stresses to macromolecular motion in entangled ring-linear DNA blends *Karthik Peddireddy*, Megan C. Lee, *Jonathan Garamella*, *Ryan McGorty*, Rae M. Robertson-Anderson Presented at APS March Meeting, March 2020 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Differential Dynamic Microscopy

Ensemble dynamics of large DNA molecules within entangled and crosslinked cytoskeleton networks *Devynn Wulstein*, Kathryn Regan, Shea Ricketts, Rae M. Robertson-Anderson, *Ryan McGorty* Presented at APS March Meeting, March 2019 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Differential Dynamic Microscopy

Particle-tracking reveals heterogeneous subdiffusion in in vitro cytoskeleton composites Sylas Anderson, *Christelle Matsuda*, *Ryan McGorty*, Rae M. Robertson-Anderson Presented at APS March Meeting, March 2019 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks

Measure particle diffusion in cytoskeletal networks with light-sheet and differential dynamic microscopy *Christelle Matsuda*, Sylas Anderson, Rae M. Robertson-Anderson, *Ryan McGorty* Presented at APS March Meeting, March 2019 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Differential Dynamic Microscopy

Diffusion and Conformational Dynamics of Linear and Circular DNA in Crosslinked Cytoskeleton Composites Kathryn Regan, *Devynn Wulstein*, Shea Ricketts, *Ryan McGorty*, Rae M. Robertson-Anderson Presented at APS March Meeting, March 2019 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Differential Dynamic Microscopy

Selective-plane illumination microscopy to characterize diffusion of DNA in cytoskeletal networks *Devynn Wulstein*, Kathryn Regan, Shea Ricketts, Rae M. Robertson-Anderson, *Ryan McGorty* Presented at APS March Meeting, March 2018 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Differential Dynamic Microscopy, Light Sheet Microscopy

Mobility and Conformational Dynamics of large DNA diffusing through Cytoskeletal Networks Kathryn Regan, Shea Ricketts, *Devynn Wulstein*, *Ryan McGorty*, Rae M. Robertson-Anderson Presented at APS March Meeting, March 2017 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks, Light Sheet Microscopy

Active microrheology of entangled biopolymer composites link polymer flexibility and length to molecular force response Robert Fitzpatrick, Cole Hauer, Carl Kyrillos, *Ryan McGorty*, Rae M. Robertson-Anderson Presented at APS March Meeting, March 2017 (see published abstract) Research themes: Cytoskeletal Networks