Purnendu Chatterjee Chair in Engineering Biological Systems, Bioengineering
Faculty Scientists, Physical Biosciences Division, LBNL;
Phone: 510-643-5624
https://fletchlab.berkeley.edu/
608B Stanley HallUC Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1762
Subject areas:
Research
The Fletcher Lab develops diagnostic technologies and studies mechanical regulation of membrane and cytoskeleton organization in the context of cell motility, signaling, and host-pathogen interactions. We specialize in development of optical microscopy, force microscopy, and microfluidic technologies to understand fundamental organizational principles through both in vitro reconstitution and live cell experiments. Recent work includes investigating the mechano-biochemistry of branched actin network assembly with force microscopy, studying membrane deformation by protein crowding and oligomerization with model membranes, and reconstituting spindle scaling in encapsulated cytoplasmic extracts. The long-term goal of our work is to understand and harness spatial organization for therapeutic applications in cancer and infectious diseases.