Leon Lettermann

PhD Student at the Schwarz Group working in theoretical biophysics at Heidelberg University.

[Leon Lettermann @LeonLettermann]

Super happy to see my first PhD work out in @PNASNews, describing analytically how geometry affects gliding motility! Big thanks to everyone, especially my supervisor @SchwarzUlrich (read his thread!) and Mirko and Freddy from @FrischknechtLab.

Read here: https://t.co/uaFxhexlbT

[Ulrich Schwarz (also @ulrichschwarz.bsky.social) @SchwarzUlrich]

New paper out in @PNASNews: how is gliding motility of microorganisms like malaria parasites determined by cell shape and surface flow? Great work by fabulous PhD-student @LeonLettermann, with Falko Ziebert and inspiration by @FrischknechtLab, @clhueschen and @TardieuXlab. 1/9

[PRX Life @PRX_Life]

A phase field model of a crawling cell captures cell motility patterns observed experimentally on confined substrate geometries. It describes how larger, softer epithelial cells hop more persistently while smaller, stiffer cells remain bistable.

🔗 https://t.co/BFGR2odz1I

[Edouard Hannezo @EdouardHannezo]

Happy to share the latest work from @DrPreetiSahuPhD, with @ASanchezDanes on the biomechanics of cell fate choices during tumor initiation! We implement/test a 3D vertex model with proliferation and fate choices for multilayered tissues! 🧵below (1/n) https://t.co/PeV7Qrro39

[Leon Lettermann @LeonLettermann]

Made with #blender, very handy for shiny visualization of complex (e.g. 3D) data, here the trajectories of malaria sporozoites moving through a hydrogel! Great experiments by Mirko Singer at @FrischknechtLab , we tracked the sporozoites and rendered the resulting trajectories!

[Ulrich Schwarz (also @ulrichschwarz.bsky.social) @SchwarzUlrich]

The 2025 calendar of the German Research Foundation (DFG) is out

https://t.co/6YYQgYnYYq

Congrats to @LeonLettermann, whose picture of malaria parasites was selected for November. Imaging data from @FrischknechtLab, funding from DFG priority programme 2332 @ParasitePhysics.

[Ulrich Schwarz (also @ulrichschwarz.bsky.social) @SchwarzUlrich]

The 2025 calendar of the German Research Foundation (DFG) is out

https://t.co/6YYQgYnYYq

Congrats to @LeonLettermann, whose picture of malaria parasites was selected for November. Imaging data from @FrischknechtLab, funding from DFG priority programme 2332 @ParasitePhysics.

[soft/living matter fanclub @softlivmat_fc]

O. M. Drozdowski, U. S. Schwarz, Cell bulging and extrusion in a three-dimensional bubbly vertex model for curved epithelial sheets. arXiv [physics.bio-ph] (2024). https://t.co/WYSPhsSmYj

[Physical Review E @PhysRevE]

Analytical calculations and numerical sampling reveals the effects of spatially disordered growth on buckling instability of elastic rods, showing how biological systems could trigger or avoid buckling and thereby control a key driver of morphogenesis.

🔗 https://t.co/lPgTAGBmMp

[Emergent Dynamics in Living Systems @BittihnGroup]

Hot off the press: In a collaboration between Stefan Karpitschka's group and several people from @LivMatPhys, we show how filament motility, reversals at illumination boundaries and filament interactions work together to create emergent structures. @Lei_La_ @RGolestanian @mpids

[Ulrich Schwarz (also @ulrichschwarz.bsky.social) @SchwarzUlrich]

Now out in @NaturePhysics: great work by @clhueschen, Rob Phillips, @Dunn_Lab and coworkers on gliding motility of apicomplexa, combining imaging of surface flows with continuum mechanics modeling. Read the open access paper here https://t.co/PF629d3dX5

[Richard Gerum @RichardGerum]

Excited to share my latest research in @NaturePhysics: https://t.co/XKWhGJwiMH 🎉🔬 Check out our open-source 3D traction force microscopy and how we detected forces in immune cells! Grateful to my amazing team and collaborators. #NaturePhysics #Science

[Leon Lettermann @LeonLettermann]

@BetzLab Thank you Timo!

[Leon Lettermann @LeonLettermann]

Very happy to be awarded the Klaus Arnold publication prize at the German Biophysical Society 2024 meeting #DGfB #DGfB24! Many thanks to @SchwarzUlrich and our team at @ParasitePhysics Project 8, Falko Ziebert, Mirko Singer and @FrischknechtLab!
Paper: https://t.co/So4WrlzgLz

[Ulrich Schwarz (also @ulrichschwarz.bsky.social) @SchwarzUlrich]

Congratulations to @LeonLettermann for winning this year‘s Klaus Arnold publication prize by the German Biophysical Society #DGfB #DGfB24 for his recent paper in @PNASNews on a geometrical theory for gliding motility 👍🎉🥇

[PLOS Biology @PLOSBiology]

#Apicomplexans need specialized structures to invade host cells & replicate. @petersmback @GEWard14 @ToxInLA &co show that alveolin protein IMC6 is crucial for maintaining cellular morphology, invasion & successful replication in #Toxoplasma #PLOSBiology https://t.co/29aOoagoQ8

[3D Matter Made to Order @Cluster3DMM2O]

@AftingCassian, @ToWalther, @c_schlagheck, @SchwarzUlrich, @JWittbr, @KGoepfrich developed DNA microbeads for precise signal control in #organoids. Published in @NatureNano, this innovation advances tissue modeling & light-controlled signals. 🧬 https://t.co/wHsuhpSwPD #Nanotech

[Xavier Trepat @XavierTrepat]

Looking for a summer read?🏖️🌞📄 You're in luck 😂. Our paper on optogenetic leader cells is out @NaturePhysics. We found a force-velocity relation for collective cell migration. Experiments by @LeoneRossetti, theory by @ricardalert. @IBECBarcelona
https://t.co/eAxUVIDs5P

[PRX Life @PRX_Life]

A general mechanism of left-right symmetry breaking is observed in epithelial spheres, highlighting the subtle interplay between geometry, topology, and collective dynamics in living #tissue.

Read the paper: https://t.co/GevugU7vDF

[Freddy Frischknecht @FrischknechtLab]

Finally out @EmboMolMed: our study exploring a new way of experimental #vaccination for #malaria using attenuated #parasites and featuring antibodies, CD4 + CD8 T cells, interferon + interleukins. Soon we'll be immunologists; high time to start surfing: https://t.co/rozkhz1WBf

[Freddy Frischknecht @FrischknechtLab]

The wonderful world of bizarre #microtubules, #actin dynamics and more. Our new review is out: #Cytoskeleton Organization in Formation and Motility of Apicomplexan #Parasites. Thanks to Ross Douglas and @R0bMoon for co-writing. https://t.co/rxvDeBZz2k

[BetzLab @BetzLab]

Paper alert: https://t.co/xJ9figMsyB @NatureMaterials introduces the “Mean Back Relaxation” which quantifies non-equilibrium from simple passive particle trajectories. Amazing theory (M. Krüger, G.Knotz) and experiments @MunkerTill to obtain cell mechanics by simple observation🧐

[Ulrich Schwarz (also @ulrichschwarz.bsky.social) @SchwarzUlrich]

📢Paper alert📢

Now out in @NJPhysics in final form: a minimal active gel model that demonstrates that gradients and steps in adhesiveness are sufficient to initiate and steer cell migration https://t.co/P0vmNJAGok