top of page
Demyelination of corpus callosum

We believe that reproducible measurement of physical quantities associated with living cells can provide novel insight into single-cell physiology. Specifically, we develop optical technologies for quantitative assessment of how living cells regulate the mass, volume, and flux of protein, lipid, water, and metabolites. Such continuous quantitative parameters require regulatory mechanisms that are different from on-off switches. We aim to understand the biological and biophysical nature of these controls at the single-cell level and utilize them to advance human health.

Research Gallery

Protein and lipid mass concentration measurement in tissues by stimulated Raman scattering

*S. Oh, *C. Lee, W. Yang, A. Li, C. Ran, W. Yin, C. J. Tabin, D. Fu, X. S. Xie, M. W. Kirschner, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. (2022).

Normalized Raman Imaging

Publications

 
2025 - present

​​

  1. Avik Mukherjee, Yanqing Huang, Jens Elgeti, Seungeun Oh, Jose G Abreu, Leander Ammar, Anjali R Neliat, Janik Schüttler, Dan-Dan Su, Christophe Dupre, Nina Catherine Benites, Xili Liu, Leonid Peshkin, Mihail Barboiu, Hugo Stocker, Marc W Kirschner, Markus Basan, Membrane potential mediates the cellular response to mechanical pressure. Cell 189, 143–160.e22 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2025.11.004

  2. Seungeun Oh*, W V Trim*, M Diakova, K Petrova, T Ichimura, A Takakura, R Karmakar, S F Nørrelykke, L Peshkin, J V Bonventre, M Kirschner, Normalized Raman Imaging for Studies of Tissue Physiology of the Kidney. bioRxiv 2025.10.12.681746 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.10.12.681746

  3. ​Avik Mukherjee, Yanqing Huang, Seungeun Oh, Carlos Sanchez, Yu-Fang Chang, Xili Liu, Gary Andrew Bradshaw, Nina Catherine Benites, Johan Paulsson, Marc W. Kirschner, Yongjin Sung, Jens Elgeti, Markus Basan, Bacterial cell wall biosynthesis is controlled by growth rate-dependent modulation of turgor pressure in E. coli. bioRxiv 2023.08.31.555748 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.08.31.555748

​

​

​2020 - 2024

​​​

  1. Severin Schink, Mark Polk, Edward Athaide, Avik Mukherjee, Constantin Ammar, Xili Liu, Seungeun Oh, Yu-Fang Chang, Markus Basan, Survival dynamics of starving bacteria are determined by ion homeostasis that maintains plasmolysis. Nature Physics 20, 1332–1338 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-024-02511-2

  2. H. Kim, S. Oh, S. Lee, K. S. Lee, Y.K. Park, Recent advances in label-free imaging and quantification techniques for the study of lipid droplets in cells. Current Opinion in Cell Biology 87, 102342, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceb.2024.102342

  3. A. Mukherjee, Y. Huang, S. Oh, C. Sanchez, Y.-F. Chang, X. Liu, G. A. Bradshaw, N. C. Benites, J. Paulsson, M. W. Kirschner, Y. Sung, J. Elgeti, M. Basan, Cell wall fluidization by mechano-endopeptidases sets up a turgor-mediated volumetric pacemaker. bioRxiv 2023.08.31.555748; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.08.31.555748 (2023)

  4. X. Liu, M. Moscvin, S. Oh, et al. Characterizing dry mass and volume changes in human multiple myeloma cells upon treatment with proteotoxic and genotoxic drugs. Clin. Exp. Med. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10238-023-01124-y  (2023).

  5. X. Liu*, S. Oh*, M. W. Kirschner, The uniformity and stability of cellular mass density in mammalian cell culture. Front. Cell Dev. Biol. 10:1017499 (2022). (*co-first authors)

  6. *S. Oh, *C. Lee, W. Yang, A. Li, C. Ran, W. Yin, C. J. Tabin, D. Fu, X. S. Xie, M. W. Kirschner, Protein and lipid mass concentration measurement in tissues by stimulated Raman scattering. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 119 (17) e2117938119 (2022). (*co-first authors)

  7. X. Liu, M. Moscvin, S. Oh, T. Chen, W. Choi, B. Evans, S. M. Rowell, O. Nadeem, C. C. Mo, A. S. Sperling, K. C. Anderson, Z. Yaqoob, G. Bianchi, Y. Sung, Characterizing dry mass and volume changes in human multiple myeloma cells upon treatment with proteotoxic and genotoxic drugs. bioRxiv 2022.03.18.484926; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.18.484926 (2022)

  8. S. Schink, M. Polk, E. Athaide1, A. Mukherjee, C. Ammar, X. Liu, S. Oh, Y.-F. Chang, M. Basan, The energy requirements of ion homeostasis determine the lifespan of starving bacteria. bioRxiv 2021.11.22.469587; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.11.22.469587 (2021).

  9. X. Liu, S. Oh, L. Peshkin, M. W. Kirschner, Computationally enhanced quantitative phase microscopy reveals autonomous oscillations in mammalian cell growth. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 117, 27388 (2020).

  10. ​

​

2013 - 2017
​

​

  1. S. Son, J. H. Kang, S. Oh, M. W. Kirschner, T. J. Mitchison, S. Manalis, Resonant microchannel volume and mass measurements show that suspended cells swell during mitosis. J. Cell Biol. 211, 757–763 (2015).

  2. R. Kafri, J. Levy, M. B. Ginzberg, S. Oh, G. Lahav, M. W. Kirschner, Dynamics extracted from fixed cells reveal feedback linking cell growth to cell cycle. Nature. 494, 480–3 (2013).

  3. Y. Sung, A. Tzur, S. Oh, W. Choi, V. Li, R. R. Dasari, Z. Yaqoob, M. W. Kirschner, Size homeostasis in adherent cells studied by synthetic phase microscopy. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 110, 16687–16692 (2013).

  4. *K. L. Cooper, *S. Oh, Y. Sung, R. R. Dasari, M. W. Kirschner, C. J. Tabin, Multiple phases of chondrocyte enlargement underlie differences in skeletal proportions. Nature. 495, 375–378 (2013). (*co-first authors)

​​

​

2007 - 2012
​

​

  1. S. Oh, C. Fang-Yen, W. Choi, Z. Yaqoob, D. Fu, Y. Park, R. R. Dassari, M. S. Feld, Label-free imaging of membrane potential using membrane electromotility. Biophys. J. 103, 11–18 (2012).

  2. D. Fu, S. Oh, W. Choi, T. Yamauchi, A. Dorn, Z. Yaqoob, R. R. Dasari, M. S. Feld, Quantitative DIC microscopy using an off-axis self-interference approach. Opt. Lett. 35, 2370 (2010).

  3. Z. Yaqoob, W. Choi, S. Oh, N. Lue, Y. Park, C. Fang-Yen, R. R. Dasari, K. Badizadegan, M. S. Feld, Improved phase sensitivity in spectral domain phase microscopy using line-field illumination and self phase-referencing. Opt. Express. 17, 10681 (2009).

  4. D. Fu, W. Choi, Y. Sung, S. Oh, Z. Yaqoob, Y. Park, R. R. Dasari, M. S. Feld, Ultraviolet refractometry using field-based light scattering spectroscopy. Opt. Express. 17, 18878 (2009).

  5. C. Fang-Yen, S. Oh, Y. Park, W. Choi, S. Song, H. S. Seung, R. R. Dasari, M. S. Feld, Imaging voltage-dependent cell motions with heterodyne Mach-Zehnder phase microscopy. Opt. Lett. 32, 1572 (2007).

  6. W. Choi, C. Fang-Yen, K. Badizadegan, S. Oh, N. Lue, R. R. Dasari, M. S. Feld, Tomographic phase microscopy. Nat. Methods. 4, 717–719 (2007).

​

​2004 - 2005

​

  1. J. Lee, J. Chae, C. K. Kim, H. Kim, S. Oh, Y. Kuk, Versatile low-temperature atomic force microscope with in situ piezomotor controls, charge-coupled device vision, and tip-gated transport measurement capability. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 76, 93701 (2005).

  2. Y.-W. Son, S. Oh, J. Ihm, S. Han, Field emission properties of double-wall carbon nanotubes. Nanotechnology. 16, 125 (2004).

​

​

Google Scholar Profile

ORC ID Profile

bottom of page