Vi er en gruppe forskere med en stærkt tværvidenskabeligt fokus, og ved at samarbejde tæt sammen med førende forskere inden for biologi, nanovidenskab og medicin kan vi bruge metoder fra fysik og nanoscience til at undersøge grundlæggende biologiske mekanismer.

Vi undersøger de fysiske egenskaber for levende celler ved at anvende en række avancerede optiske teknikker og metoder fra bl.a. nanovidenskab. Levende celler er utrolig dynamiske og for en fysiker kan den komplekse celle karakteriseres som et levende materiale.

Eksperimentel Biofysik gruppen er en del af sektionen Biokompleksitet på Niels Bohr Institutet ved Københavns Universitet.

Levende celler er utrolig dynamiske og for en fysiker kan den komplekse celle karakteriseres som et levende materiale. Vi undersøger cellerne ved at kombinere avanceret optisk mikroskopi med optisk manipulation af forskellig art. Ved hjælp af et tæt tværvidenskabelig samarbejde med videnskabsfolk fra biologi, sundhedsvidenskab, biokemi og nanovidenskab har vi særdeles gode forudsætninger for at lave banebrydende eksperimenter.

Vi undersøger biofysiske egenskaber af en lang række af biologiske systemer som spænder fra enkelte stamceller til invasive kræftceller samt deres egenskaber i mere naturlige og komplekse miljøer hvor de fx. kan vekselvirke og gro frit i tre dimensioner. Kernen i vores forskning er hvordan cellens fysik påvirker eller styrer diverse biologiske funktioner. De største forskningsområder omfatter mekaniske undersøgelser af cellens overflade, såsom cellens membran og membran-proteiner samt viskoelastiske egenskaber af cellens indre.

Biologiens kompleksitet gør det svært at undersøge enkelte komponenter, derfor bruger vi mange kræfter på at udvikle nye minimale model systemer hvor vi kan undersøge enkelte proteiner i celle-lignende systemer, som kun indeholder nogle få typer af biologiske komponenter. Vi anvender også modelsystemer som 'organoids' til at forstå hvordan tumorer vokser og udvikler sig.

Udviklingen af avanceret optisk udstyr er en integreret del af gruppens arbejde, som ligger til grund for mange af de state-of-the-art eksperimenter, som vi udfører for at besvare grundlæggende videnskabelig spørgsmål inden for biofysikken.  

Læs mere om forskningsprojekterne på den engelske hjemmeside her >>

2020

• • How membrane geometry regulates protein sorting independently of mean curvature. J. B Larsen, K. R. Rosholm, C. Kennard, S. L Pedersen, H. K. Munch, V. Tkach, J. J. Sakon, T. Bjørnholm, K. R. Weninger, P. M. Bendix, K. J. Jensen, N. S. Hatzakis, M. J. Uline, and D. Stamou. ACS Cent. Sci. 6 (7), 1159-1168 (2020).
  • Progress report: Plasmonic Material Engineering for Targeted Therapeutics. C.D. Florentsen, G.S. Moreno-Pescador,  A. Kjær, L. B. Oddershede, P.M. Bendix. Accepted in Advanced Optical Materials (2020).
    
  • P. M. Bendix*, A. C. Simonsen*, C. D. Florentsen, S. C. Häger, et al... Interdisciplinary Synergy to Reveal Mechanisms of Annexin-Mediated Plasma Membrane Shaping and Repair. Invited review in Cells, 9(4), 1029 (2020). 
    
  • C.D. Florentsen, A. Kamp-Sonne, G.M. Pescador, W. Pezeshkian, A.A. Hakami Zanjani, H. Khandelia, J. Nylandsted, P.M. Bendix. Annexin A4 trimers are recruited by high membrane curvatures in Giant Plasma Membrane Vesicles. Accepted in Soft Matter (2020). 
  • P. Purohit, A. Samadi, P.M. Bendix, J.J. Laserna, L.B. Oddershede. Optical trapping reveals differences in dielectric and optical properties of copper nanoparticles compared to their oxides and ferrites Scientific Reports, vol 10, Issue 1, p. 1-10 (2020).
  • M. Niora, D. Pedersbæk, R. M. M. Lassen, M. F. V. Weywadt, Y. F. Barooji, T. L. Andresen, J. B. Simonsen, L. Jauffred. Head-to-head comparison of the penetration efficiency of lipid-based nanoparticles in a 3D tumor spheroid model. ACS Omega, Accepted (2020).
  • Physical properties and actin organization in embryonic stem cells depend on differentiation stage.  K.G. Hvid, Y. F. Barooji, I. I. Petitjean, J. M. Brickman, L.B. Oddershede, P. M. Bendix. BioRxiv (2020).
  • Filopodia rotate and coil by actively generating twist in their actin shaft. N. Leijnse, Y. F. Barooji, B. Verhagen, L. Wullkopf, J. T. Erler, S. Semsey, J. Nylandsted, A. Doostmohammadi, L. B. Oddershede, and P. M. Bendix. BiorXiv

2019

• Y. He, K. Laugesen, D. Kamp, S.A. Sultan, L.B. Oddershede, L. Jauffred. Effects and side effects of plasmonic photothermal therapy in brain tissue Cancer Nanotechnology, vol 10, Issue 1, p. 1-11 (2019).
• Guillermo Moreno Pescador, Iliriana Qoqaj, Victoria Thusgaard Ruhoff, Josephine F. Iversen, Jesper Nylandsted, and Poul Martin Bendix. SPIE Proceedings, vol 11083, Optical Trapping and Optical Micromanipulation XVI; 110830M (2019).
• Guillermo Moreno Pescador, Christoffer D. Florentsen, Henrik Østbye, Stine L. Sønder, 5 Theresa L. Boye, Emilie L. Veje, Alexander K. Sonne, Szabolcs Semsey, Jesper Nylandsted, 6 Robert Daniels, and Poul Martin Bendix.
  Curvature and Phase Induced Protein Sorting Quantified in Transfected Cell-Derived Giant Vesicles
  ACS NANO Publications, vol. 13, Issue 6, p. 6689-6701 (2019).
• L. Jauffred, A. Samadi, H. Klingberg, P.M. Bendix, L. B. Oddershede.
  Plasmonic Heating of Nanostructures.
  Chemical Reviews, vol. 19, Issue 13, p. 8087-8130 (2019).
• M. Simón, K. Norregaard, J. T. Jørgensen, L. B. Oddershede, A. Kjaer.
  Fractionated photothermal therapy in a murine tumor model: comparison with single dose.
  International Journal of Nanomedicine, vol. 14, p.5369—5379 (2019).
• A. Samadi, L. Jauffred, H. Klingberg, P.M. Bendix, L. B. Oddershede.
  Optical control of strongly absorbing nanoparticles and their potential for photothermal treatment.
  Proc. of Spie, vol. 10935, p. 109351A-1 (2019).More publications here on the English website >>

Vi har mange forskellige projekter for Kandidat studerende og også lejlighedsvis projekter for bachelor studerende. For yderligere info kontakt Poul M. Bendix (Bendix@nbi.ku.dk) eller Liselotte Jauffred (jauffred@nbi.ku.dk).

Cellular repair system investigated by laser based nano-surgery

When cells migrate in the body they often experience membrane ruptures which results in excessive calcium flowing into the cell. This can be lethal unless the membrane is sealed within milliseconds. Cells have a built-in surface repair kit which is activated by calcium influx and hence can allow the cell to self-heal within seconds after injury. Cancer cells are extremely efficient in repairing their surface since they have an increased expression of various annexin proteins which are thought to be the major proteins involved in the membrane repair.

The project will involve testing the membrane repair system in cells by using thermoplasmonics to inflict a nanoscopic hole in the membrane. This will be done by irradiating a plasmonic gold nanostructure placed on the surface of the cell. Confocal microscopy and super-resolution microscopy will be used to monitor the recruitment of various annexins which are labeled with fluorescent proteins. The overall aims are to i) investigate whether invasive cancer cells are more efficient in dealing with thermoplasmonic ruptures than non-invasive cells ii) investigate the role of several different annexins in the repair process including other proteins like ESCRT and actin.

The project is a collaboration with Kræftens Bekæmpelse samt Syddansk Universitet. 

Contact: Poul Martin Bendix, bendix@nbi.dk

Patterning in large bacterial communities

In nature, bacteria actively search for a surface to form larger communities, i.e., biofilm, with extended cooperativity and defense. We know that sectors with low genetic diversity form within the colony, even among cells of similar fitness. This self-organization of microbial cell communities is the result of genetic drift in complex interplay with evolution, competition, and cooperation.

We offer various projects to explore pattern formation by growing bacteria both in vivo and in silico. We believe the close interplay between theory and experiments will provide a more complete understanding of cooperation and competition among cells in larger communities.  We aim to point out general features of growth pattern, which can be generalized in wider class of systems. In the long term, we may draw parallels to mammalian cell systems, where patterning is crucial for example in embryonic development.

Possible subprojects include:

Colony shape

The relation between the individual cell shape and the colony shape

 This project combines theory and experiments depending on your interests. Experimentally, the project can include bacterial cell culture, colony growth, and advanced fluorescence microscopy. Theoretically, we plan to first simulate an individual cell-based model where the particles grow, divide, and interact through mechanical force. Depending on the development of the project, simplified lattice models or partial differential equation-based models can also be used.

Supervisors: Liselotte Jauffred & Namiko Mitarai

Se flere projekter / More Projects >>

Aktive forskningsbevillinger:

• StemPhys: Danish National Research Foundation Center for Stem Cell Decision Making 60.000.000 Dkr granted by Danish National Research Foundation, 2015-2021. PI: Joshua Brickmann, Danstem. Click HERE to see the homepage of StemPhys.

• A multidisciplinary platform for revealing mechanisms of annexin-mediated plasma membrane repair 3.748.705 Dkr granted by The Novo Nordisk Foundation. 2019-2022. Co-applicant: Poul M. Bendix, NBI (PI Jesper Nylandsted, Kræftens Bekæmpelse).

• Coupling Celluar Shapes Sapere Aude Grant from Danish Research Councils 7.000.000DKK, 2015-2019. PI: Poul M. Bendix, NBI.

• Lundbeck PhD fellowship (2017-2020), PI Poul M. Bendix

PhD students

• Guillermo S. Moreno Pescador 
  'Membrane protein dynamics studied with optical and thermoplasmonic methods in complex and simple membranes' (April 2019)

• Ann-Katrine Vransø West 
  'Investigation of cancer cell dynamics during division and migration' (January 2018)

• Christine Ritter 
  'Viscoelastic and dynamic properties of embryonic stem cells' (January 2017)

• Azra Bahadori 
  'Fusion of selected cells and vesicles mediated by optically trapped plasmonic nanoparticles' (May 2016)

• Younes F. Barooji 
  'Physical characterization of phospholipid nanotubes and teh effect of BAR domain proteins on their mechanical stability' (June 2015)

• Dino Ott 
  'Photodiode Based Detection for Multiple Trap Optical Tweezers' (June 2015)

• Kamilla Nørregaard 
  'Physics Based Investigations of DNA supercoiling & of plasmonic nanoparticles for photothermal cancer therapy' (March 2015)

• Henrik Klingberg 
  'Endothelial barrier interactions wiht nanomedicine-relevant particles in shear stress cell models' (September 2014)

Se flere her >>

Interne informationer for gruppens medlemmer

Vi holder gruppemøde om onsdagen kl. 9.15 i lokale kc7.

Deltagelse i gruppemøder er obligatorisk for alle i gruppen og andre forskere med interesse er også velkomne. Gruppens medlemmer præsenterer på skift deres projekter og fremskridt siden sidst. Personen som holder oplæg medbringer også morgenbrød.

For lab reservation- se nederst på siden.

Præsentationer forår 2021

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Præsentationer Efterår 2020

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Forår 2020

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Fall 2019

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Booking af laboratorier

Vi har tre opstillinger med optical tweezers hvor to af dem er kombineret med et konfokalt mirkoskop (Leica SP5).  Google Kalender anvendes til tidsbestilling. Kodeord: Spørg Poul Martin.

I hverdage kan opstillingerne bookes enten før kl. 14 eller efter kl. 14. Man kan højst have 3 aktive reservationer per per uge indenfor normal arbejdstid. I weekender og aftener kan udstyret reserveres frit. 

Interne dokumenter samt wiki

Gruppen anvender en wikiside til eksperimentelle protokoller og manualer til det forskellige udstyr.

Henvendelse til Poul Martin for brugernavn and kodeord.

Poul Martin Bendix, Gruppeleder
E-Mail: bendix@nbi.ku.dk
Tel: +45 35325251 eller +45 61602454
Blegdamsvej 17, DK- 2100 København

Ann-Katrine Vransø West, Postdoc & StemPhys Forskningskoordinator
E-mail (Koordinator): stemphys-coordinator @ nbi.ku.dk
Tel: +45 93509177