Student(s):
Ryan Schilt
Dates of Involvement:
Sept. 2009-April 2010
Faculty Advisor(s):
John Flynt
Graduate Mentor:
Endocytosis and Cell Mechanism Simulation
Background
Endocytosis[1] is the process by which cells absorb molecules (such as proteins) from outside the cell by engulfing it with their cell membrane. It is used by all cells of the body because most substances important to them are large polar molecules that cannot pass through the hydrophobic plasma membrane or cell membrane. The process opposite to endocytosis is exocytosis.
An absorbed molecule will then interact with other absorbed molecules, forming endosomes (early then late), and then lysosomes. These three stages are known as the endocytic pathway.
Simulation
The final product will simulate endocytosis, including the endocytic pathway. A current version of the simulation is seen in the Figure 1.
Figure 1. Formation of an endosome.
The red particles can be thought of as proteins entering the cell. An important feature to notice is that the cell wall has two layers, the extracellular face (black) and the cytoplasmic face (Green). Notice how an entering protein has the cytoplasmic face as its outer wall and the extracellular face as the inner wall.
Collaboration
This simulation is a product for Joy Power in the Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Department at CU. Joy and her students provide great insight into the appearance of the simulation and making sure the end result can be easily used and understood by undergraduates learning about cells mechanisms.
About Ryan Schilt:
Ryan Schilt is currently an Applied Mathematics graduate student with a focus in atmospheric dynamics. He worked on MAST as an undergraduate building simple math simulations demonstrating math/physics concepts ranging from projectile motion to chaotic fluid flow.
References:
[1]Cells. New York: Jones & Bartlett, 2006. Print.
