biology

Lewis Tilney

Lewis Tilney is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lewis Tilney rather than just read about it. In short: Lewis Gawtry Tilney is an American cell biologist and professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his Ph.D. from Cornell University Medical School in 1964.

Key takeaways

Lewis Tilney belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lewis Tilney to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lewis Tilney from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Lewis Gawtry Tilney is an American cell biologist and professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his Ph.D. from Cornell University Medical School in 1964. Tilney is known for studying the cytoskeleton of animal cells, specifically how different components affect the cytoskeleton's overall properties.

Research and publications

Research interests Tilney's research interests and primary research focus has been on the cytoskeleton of specific portions of animal cells. Through this research it was his goal to identify the cause behind certain properties of the cytoskeleton including length, distribution, and the location of each type of filament and microtubule. Some specific elements Tilney has investigated is the microvilli of intestinal epithelial cells, the actin tail of Listeria, the stereocilia of hair cells in the inner ear, and the bristles of Drosophila.

Drosophila Tilney’s research in Drosophila focused on the actin filaments. He observed the cross-linking of adjacent filaments and using forked proteins and fascin investigated how the bundles formed. He observed that in mutants, the aggregation of bundles did not occur which resulted in significantly smaller bundle sizes compared to the wild type. From this, he performed experiments using and removing cross-linking agents forked proteins and fascin to investigate each cross-linkers role in properly forming actin bundles. From his work, he reached the conclusions that forked proteins are used early in the process to aggregate smaller bundles into large ones and they also help the bundles come together. Forked proteins also help fascin entry into the bundles which allows the bundles to cross-link and align properly. He conducted further experiments using antibodies specific to fascin and the forked proteins to show when they were present in actin formation. From this research, he was able to identify that fascin was present predominantly during bundle elongation whereas the forked proteins were present during bundle formation and consequently played a significant role in the shape and size of the actin bundles. Further, it was demonstrated the amount of actin polymerization was also limited by the area where actin had the ability to adhere to connector material.

Toxoplasma gondii Tilney also conducted research focused on Toxoplasma gondii and how its invasive stages acted in an actin-dependent fashion. To identify whether filaments form, Tilney induced actin polymerization on the anterior end of the parasite molecules using Jasplakinolide, an actin polymerization promoting and stabilizing molecule. Following the introduction of Jasplakinolide, it was observed that the actin-binding protein myosin connected to the newly formed polymer which confirmed its identity to be actin. This represented the first time that this actin polymerization had been observed in parasites. Later research went on to show how protease inhibitors including cysteine and serine can modify the post-translational modifications in the processing of secretory proteins in the parasite.

Awards and honors Tilney was elected into the National Academy of Sciences for cellular and developmental biology in 1998. He was elected alongside three other scientists in the field of cellular biology including Michael Levine, Lelio Orci, and Joan Ruderman. He was also awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1975. This fellowship is awarded to those individuals who show excellent creativity in the sciences and produce scholarly work. It is awarded in the form of a grant that enables academic research.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lewis Tilney

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lewis Tilney claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lewis Tilney before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lewis Tilney ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lewis Tilney

In research: Lewis Tilney appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lewis Tilney in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lewis Tilney is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics American cell biologists, Cornell University alumni, Living people, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lewis Tilney outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lewis Tilney in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lewis Tilney means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lewis Tilney out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lewis Tilney in simple terms?

Lewis Gawtry Tilney is an American cell biologist and professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his Ph.D. from Cornell University Medical School in 1964.

Why does Lewis Tilney matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lewis Tilney?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lewis Tilney.