A living cell is like a bustling city. Particles and subcellular organelles, including endosomes and lipid droplets, are constantly transported in and out of cells, and along cytoskeletons inside cell cytosol. While much is known about how such cargos move translationally, little is known about their rotational dynamics. In this talk, I will present the recent research progress from my group in measuring rotational dynamics in living cells by using Janus particles as imaging probes. Janus particles that were rendered optically asymmetric enabled imaging and tracking of rotation of single particles. The precisely measured rotational dynamics reveal particle-cell interactions that would otherwise be difficult probe with conventional quantitative methods.

Seeing the unseen: Interrogating intracellular dynamics using Janus particles

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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