CaIFF Webinar: Poul Martin Bendix

Optical bio-manipulation of cells, vesicles and single molecules

Abstract

Photothermal nanomaterials provide a powerful route to localized and minimally invasive manipulation of biological membranes. Acting as nanoscale light-to-heat converters, they can generate highly confined temperature gradients and are increasingly relevant both for precision therapies and for quantitative studies of soft and biological matter.

We have combined theory and experiments to characterize a broad range of photothermal nanomaterials and applied them to manipulate giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs), giant plasma membrane vesicles (GPMVs), and living cells. Local photothermal excitation can induce controlled membrane fusion or pore formation, enabling studies of membrane repair, protein redistribution, and transport across biological interfaces.

A particularly useful application is the fusion of living cells with phase-separated model membranes, allowing integral membrane proteins to be transferred directly into GUVs while preserving their native orientation. This provides a new approach for probing membrane-protein partitioning, lipid-domain affinity, and membrane organization under well-controlled conditions.

I will also highlight how thermoplasmonics can be combined with optical trapping and advanced imaging to create multifunctional platforms for manipulating cells, vesicles, membranes, and single molecules. Examples include mechanical deformation of membranes and cells, single-molecule DNA manipulation, and complementary mechanical imaging using Brillouin microscopy. Together, these approaches provide new opportunities for engineering and interrogating biological and biomimetic soft-matter systems relevant to mechanobiology, membrane biophysics, and pharmaceutical research.

Speaker

Poul Martin Bendix is Associate Professor at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, where he leads the BendixLab in Biophotonics and Mechanobiology. His research combines experimental biophysics, soft matter, mechanobiology, and advanced optical methods to investigate how cells and biomimetic systems respond to force, curvature, and membrane organization.

His group develops and applies optical tweezers, thermoplasmonic membrane manipulation, advanced fluorescence imaging, and Brillouin microscopy to study membrane mechanics, plasma-membrane repair, GPCR mechanosensing, filopodia dynamics, and single-molecule DNA–protein interactions. A central theme of his work is the development of new physical tools for manipulating living cells, membranes, and molecular systems with high spatial and mechanical precision.

Before establishing his group at the University of Copenhagen, he carried out postdoctoral research at Stanford University and worked at the University of Copenhagen’s Nanoscience Center. He received his PhD from the University of Copenhagen, including a one year research period at Harvard University.

Registration link to Zoom Event

https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_dKOX_lg8QX6qjSeRb4wnkw