# Mathematical modeling of spatiotemporal and mechanical processes in cellular functions

> **NIH NIH R35** · VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INST AND ST UNIV · 2020 · $373,180

## Abstract

Project Summary
The PI’s laboratory focuses on mathematical modeling of spatiotemporal and mechanical processes in living
cells, as well as their coupling to biochemical regulatory pathways. Although critical for many cellular functions,
spatiotemporal and mechanical processes remain poorly understood. Experimentally, it is yet impossible to
simultaneously track the spatiotemporal and mechanical dynamics of multiple molecular species involved in
complex cellular functions, which hinders coherent mechanistic understanding. Mathematical modeling presents
a powerful tool that can integrate heterogeneous data with basic laws of physics and chemistry, propose coherent
mechanistic frameworks, and guide new experiments. Due to many strong physical constraints, modeling the
spatiotemporal and mechanical dynamics in a cell can be more tractable than modeling the complex signaling
networks, and can provide a central framework to which additional biological details can be gradually added.
Equipped with her rich experience in modeling cellular spatiotemporal and mechanical dynamics and their
feedback with biochemical signaling, the PI will focus her research over the next five years on several topics in
two areas of cell biology that involve salient spatiotemporal and mechanical dynamics. The first area is mitotic
spindle assembly and chromosome segregation. The PI’s research in this area will elucidate how the
spatiotemporal, mechanical and biochemical dynamics interplay to achieve proper spindle assembly and faithful
chromosome segregation. The research will particularly focus on the cellular mechanisms behind centrosome
clustering and chromosome oscillation. The proper execution of these mechanisms and their dysfunction have
strong implications in cancer. Hence, knowledge to be obtained from this study will illuminate future innovations
in cancer therapy. The second area is bacterial motility and control. The PI’s research in this area will tackle how
bacterial motility is driven, regulated and coordinated, processes that are critical for formation and organization
of microbial communities like biofilms. The research will focus on two novel gliding motilities found in Myxococcus
xanthus and Clostridium perfringens. Both motilities involve intriguing intercellular interactions, either for
coordinating motility between individual cells, or for supplying the driving force. Knowledge to be generated by
the study will stimulate future health-related innovations, such as novel antimicrobial treatments and bacterial
therapeutic agents. Last but not least, the PI will develop new methodology to address the challenge of
comparing traditional, physics-based models with noisy data obtained through the latest experimental
technologies. Particularly, she will introduce Bayesian inference to her modeling research and streamline the
methodology for the data and models in the specific research topics. These methods will be transferable to other
research in the field of q...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10028816
- **Project number:** 1R35GM138370-01
- **Recipient organization:** VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INST AND ST UNIV
- **Principal Investigator:** Jing Chen
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $373,180
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10028816

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10028816, Mathematical modeling of spatiotemporal and mechanical processes in cellular functions (1R35GM138370-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10028816. Licensed CC0.

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