Julie Theriot

About

Julie Theriot is a Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Washington. Her research explores the mechanics and dynamics of cell self-organization and movement across a variety of cells, ranging from bacteria to fish skin cells. Her work focuses on understanding how cellular structures are formed and coordinated, emphasizing the spatial and temporal organization of macromolecules within cells. Her group investigates three main areas: the actin-based motility of intracellular bacterial pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes, the whole-cell crawling of epithelial cells and leukocytes including processes like phagocytosis in macrophages, and the dynamics of cellular organization in bacteria and diatoms. Her interdisciplinary approach bridges cell biology, microbiology, and biophysics, employing both biochemical reconstitution and genetic, pharmacological, and quantitative video-based analyses to develop broad principles of cellular organization and movement.

Research topics

• Biology
• Computer Science
• Cell biology
• Genetics
• Biological system
• Materials science
• Chemistry
• Physics
• Biophysics
• Mathematics

Selected publications

• Actin cables and comet tails organize mitochondrial networks in mitosis

  Nature · 2021 · 191 citations

  DOI

• Microparticle traction force microscopy reveals subcellular force exertion patterns in immune cell–target interactions

  Nature Communications · 2020 · 155 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Force exertion is an integral part of cellular behavior. Traction force microscopy (TFM) has been instrumental for studying such forces, providing spatial force measurements at subcellular resolution. However, the applications of classical TFM are restricted by the typical planar geometry. Here, we develop a particle-based force sensing strategy for studying cellular interactions. We establish a straightforward batch approach for synthesizing uniform, deformable and tuneable hydrogel particles,…

  DOI

• Fundamental limits on the rate of bacterial growth and their influence on proteomic composition

  Cell Systems · 2021 · 119 citations

  DOI

• Establishing a conceptual framework for holistic cell states and state transitions

  Cell · 2024-05-01 · 83 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Cell states were traditionally defined by how they looked, where they were located, and what functions they performed. In this post-genomic era, the field is largely focused on a molecular view of cell state. Moving forward, we anticipate that the observables used to define cell states will evolve again as single-cell imaging and analytics are advancing at a breakneck pace via the collection of large-scale, systematic cell image datasets and the application of quantitative image-based data scien…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Cell Mechanics at the Rear Act to Steer the Direction of Cell Migration

  Cell Systems · 2020 · 46 citations

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Actin-based motility of a bacterial pathogen

  NIH · $3.0M · 2019–2021

• NIH Grant R01AI036929

  NIH · $3.0M · 2010

• NIH Grant R01AI067712

  NIH · $1.5M · 2013

Frequent coauthors

• Rikki M. Garner

  Harvard University

  81 shared

• Matthew J. Footer

  68 shared

• Daan Vorselen

  Wageningen University & Research

  45 shared

• Jané Kondev

  Brandeis University

  45 shared

• E Bastounis

  42 shared

• Ramon Lorenzo D. Labitigan

  Stanford University

  42 shared

• Andrew S. Kennard

  University of Massachusetts Amherst

  40 shared

• Rob Phillips

  California Institute of Technology

  38 shared

Labs

• Theriot LabPI

Education

• B.S., Biology (Course 7), Physics (Course 8)

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  1988

• Ph.D., Cell Biology

  University of California at San Francisco

  1993

Similar researchers at University of Washington

• Daniel E. Schindlerh-78
• Cecilia B. Moensh-76
• Carl Bergstromh-74