XJ Xu ‘25

(he/him)

Home Department: Physics (Wu Lab)

Research Project: Non-equilibrium pattern formation in a living cell

All living systems operate far from equilibrium yet we do not yet have a self-consistent framework for describing non-equilibrium phenomena in open systems. Small molecular networks in cells, such as phosphoinositide and Rho GTPase reaction networks, offer an advantageous platform to bridge microscopic interactions (biochemical reactions) with mesoscopic emergent phenomena. (oscillations), At the mesoscopic level, the challenge is to understand the various dynamical states of the cell, such as bistability, oscillations and other ordered states, and how dynamical transitions can occur between such states. Ultimately, the goal is to connect the underlying biochemical reactions, including their reaction network topology, to the emergent macroscopic cellular behaviors, namely endocytosis, exocytosis, cell division etc.

Relevant Publications

Tong, CS; Xu, XJ; Wu, M. (2023) Periodicity, mixed-mode oscillations, and multiple timescales in a phosphoinositide-Rho GTPase network.