Milan Vala Group

Observation of the dynamics of cytoskeletal filaments and their interaction with associated molecular machinery is an important but challenging task. We are developing advanced optical microscopy methods targeting fast and transient biophysical processes including assembly and disassembly of microtubules and the behavior of microtubule-associated motor proteins. We specialize in interferometric optical microscopy to detect weak signals of light scattered from the molecular system of interest. Ultimately, our microscopes are capable to resolve light scattered from a single protein, localize it with nanometer precision and track its position and orientation at up to megahertz framerates. The possibility to probe the proteins with light directly and not through fluorescent or other labels is vital to gaining additional information about the system including the proteins' mass, their tendency to make dimers or oligomers, and even their conformational changes.

Future projects

We plan to push the limits of optical microscopy even further with the use of advanced polarization-sensitive microscopy based on interferometric detection of scattering and DNA-origami-aided super-resolution microscopy. DNA origami can be engineered to enable high-precision nanoscale positioning and alignment of scattering labels for efficient amplification of the signals encoding the instant position and orientation of the molecules of interest. These techniques are expected to open additional windows to shed light on nanoscopic cytoskeletal processes.