Cells are the fundamental units of life. A cell’s ability to replicate, grow, divide, and interact with its environment lies at the heart of every organism. These basic biological processes are precisely regulated in space and time by a complex and dynamic network of interacting genes, RNAs, and proteins.
Our lab aims at providing a simpler view of this incredible biological complexity, primarily focusing on the regulation of cell division. We believe that understanding the system dynamics is essential to achieving this goal. The dynamical interaction of proteins can lead to robust systems-level behavior, for example, the irreversible cellular decision to divide. Different sets of proteins often interact in similar ways to generate the same function (e.g., an irreversible switch), underscoring the relevance of a generic dynamical view of biology.
In our studies we glean techniques from physics and mathematics, such as the theory of nonlinear dynamics and complex systems, which allows us to theoretically analyze the spatiotemporal dynamics of molecules inside cells. This approach is complemented by molecular and cellular experiments, in which we test our hypotheses by controllably perturbing biological processes in model organisms such as Xenopus frogs, zebrafish, and mammalian cells. This synergistic approach is geared toward understanding how cells are regulated in space and time. In the long-term we believe that a functional understanding of a cell’s most basic processes will contribute to developing new therapeutic strategies to combat diseases such as cancer.
Selected publications
1.
Parra-Rivas*, P.; Ruiz-Reynés*, D.; Gelens, L.
Cell cycle oscillations driven by two interlinked bistable switches
In: Molecular Biology of the Cell, 2023.
@article{cellcyclemodel_parrarivas_2023,
title = {Cell cycle oscillations driven by two interlinked bistable switches},
author = {P. Parra-Rivas* and D. Ruiz-Reynés* and L. Gelens},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1091/mbc.E22-11-0527},
doi = {10.1101/2023.01.26.525632},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-02-15},
urldate = {2023-02-15},
journal = {Molecular Biology of the Cell},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
2.
Nolet, F. E. *; Vandervelde, A. *; Vanderbeke, A. *; Pineros, L. *; Chang, J. B.; Gelens, L.
Nuclei determine the spatial origin of mitotic waves
In: eLife, vol. 9, pp. e52868, 2020, ISSN: 2050-084X.
@article{nolet_nuclei_2020,
title = {Nuclei determine the spatial origin of mitotic waves},
author = {F. E. * Nolet and A. * Vandervelde and A. * Vanderbeke and L. * Pineros and J. B. Chang and L. Gelens},
url = {https://elifesciences.org/articles/52868},
doi = {10.7554/eLife.52868},
issn = {2050-084X},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-05-26},
urldate = {2020-05-26},
journal = {eLife},
volume = {9},
pages = {e52868},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
3.
Gelens, L.; Qian, J.; Bollen, M.; Saurin, A. T.
The Importance of Kinase–Phosphatase Integration: Lessons from Mitosis
In: Trends in Cell Biology, vol. 28, iss. 1, pp. 6-21, 2017, ISSN: 0962-8924.
@article{gelens_importance_2017,
title = {The Importance of Kinase–Phosphatase Integration: Lessons from Mitosis},
author = {L. Gelens and J. Qian and M. Bollen and A. T. Saurin},
url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0962892417301782},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tcb.2017.09.005},
issn = {0962-8924},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-11-01},
urldate = {2017-11-01},
journal = {Trends in Cell Biology},
volume = {28},
issue = {1},
pages = {6-21},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
4.
Anderson*, G. A.; Gelens*, L.; Baker, J.; Ferrell, J. E. Jr.
Desynchronizing Embryonic Cell Division Waves Reveals the Robustness of Xenopus laevis Development
In: Cell Reports, vol. 21, iss. 1, pp. 37–46, 2017, (featured on the cover).
@article{anderson_desynchronizing_2017,
title = {Desynchronizing Embryonic Cell Division Waves Reveals the Robustness of \textit{Xenopus laevis} Development},
author = {G. A. Anderson* and L. Gelens* and J. Baker and J. E. Jr. Ferrell},
url = {http://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(17)31278-0},
doi = {10.1016/j.celrep.2017.09.017},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-09-01},
urldate = {2017-09-01},
journal = {Cell Reports},
volume = {21},
issue = {1},
pages = {37--46},
note = {featured on the cover},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
5.
Gelens, L.; Anderson, G. A.; Jr., J. E. Ferrell
Spatial trigger waves: positive feedback gets you a long way
In: Molecular Biology of the Cell, vol. 25, no. 22, pp. 3486–3493, 2014, ISSN: 1059-1524, 1939-4586.
@article{gelens_spatial_2014,
title = {Spatial trigger waves: positive feedback gets you a long way},
author = {L. Gelens and G. A. Anderson and J. E. Ferrell Jr.},
url = {http://www.molbiolcell.org/content/25/22/3486},
doi = {10.1091/mbc.E14-08-1306},
issn = {1059-1524, 1939-4586},
year = {2014},
date = {2014-11-01},
urldate = {2014-11-01},
journal = {Molecular Biology of the Cell},
volume = {25},
number = {22},
pages = {3486--3493},
abstract = {Trigger waves are a recurring biological phenomenon involved in transmitting information quickly and reliably over large distances. Well-characterized examples include action potentials propagating along the axon of a neuron, calcium waves in various tissues, and mitotic waves in Xenopus eggs. Here we use the FitzHugh-Nagumo model, a simple model inspired by the action potential that is widely used in physics and theoretical biology, to examine different types of trigger waves—spatial switches, pulses, and oscillations—and to show how they arise.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Trigger waves are a recurring biological phenomenon involved in transmitting information quickly and reliably over large distances. Well-characterized examples include action potentials propagating along the axon of a neuron, calcium waves in various tissues, and mitotic waves in Xenopus eggs. Here we use the FitzHugh-Nagumo model, a simple model inspired by the action potential that is widely used in physics and theoretical biology, to examine different types of trigger waves—spatial switches, pulses, and oscillations—and to show how they arise.