Cell Geography: Organelles in their Natural Habitat
Event details
| Date | 18.06.2015 |
| Hour | 16:00 |
| Speaker | Prof. Benoît Kornmann, ETHZ, Zurich (CH) |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
BIOENGINEERING SEMINAR
Abstract:
Organelles are separate but not isolated intracellular compartments. Their positions within the cell establish a cellular geography that creates subcellular microdomains for localized intracellular signaling. In particular, interfaces between organelles are sites of information and metabolite exchange that play important roles in cellular physiology. They allow, for instance, the proper partitioning of lipids between the various cellular membranes. How are these subcellular territories established? How do organelles find and maintain their appropriate subcellular position? How and why do organelles come into contact with each other? How do they manage to do so harmoniously, without encroaching on each other's territories and without clashes and entanglements?
We use mitochondria as a model organelle to tackle these questions. Mitochondria are neither able to synthesize lipids, nor to receive lipids by vesicular transport. The biogenesis of their membranes depends on contacts established with other organelles. Moreover, mitochondria form a dynamic network, that must maintain homeostasis in the constantly moving environment of the cytoplasm.
I will present our research showing how organelles form a plastic lipid exchange network, how mitochondria hitchhike on the cytoskeleton after mitosis, and how mitochondria avoid tying knots in the crowded and moving intracellular space.
Bio:
Dr. Kornmann received a BSc in biology from the University of Geneva in 1997 and an MSc from the same university in 1998. The University of Geneva awarded him an MPhil in 2001 and a doctorate in 2005.
He subsequently worked as a postdoc at the University of California, San Francisco, USA, under Professor Peter Walter. From 2007 to 2009 with an SNSF grant for young researchers and from 2009 to 2011 with a scholarship for advanced researchers.
He is Assistant Professor of Cell-Organelle Biology (SNSF Fellowship) in the Department of Biology (D-BIOL) at ETH Zurich since 2012.
Abstract:
Organelles are separate but not isolated intracellular compartments. Their positions within the cell establish a cellular geography that creates subcellular microdomains for localized intracellular signaling. In particular, interfaces between organelles are sites of information and metabolite exchange that play important roles in cellular physiology. They allow, for instance, the proper partitioning of lipids between the various cellular membranes. How are these subcellular territories established? How do organelles find and maintain their appropriate subcellular position? How and why do organelles come into contact with each other? How do they manage to do so harmoniously, without encroaching on each other's territories and without clashes and entanglements?
We use mitochondria as a model organelle to tackle these questions. Mitochondria are neither able to synthesize lipids, nor to receive lipids by vesicular transport. The biogenesis of their membranes depends on contacts established with other organelles. Moreover, mitochondria form a dynamic network, that must maintain homeostasis in the constantly moving environment of the cytoplasm.
I will present our research showing how organelles form a plastic lipid exchange network, how mitochondria hitchhike on the cytoskeleton after mitosis, and how mitochondria avoid tying knots in the crowded and moving intracellular space.
Bio:
Dr. Kornmann received a BSc in biology from the University of Geneva in 1997 and an MSc from the same university in 1998. The University of Geneva awarded him an MPhil in 2001 and a doctorate in 2005.
He subsequently worked as a postdoc at the University of California, San Francisco, USA, under Professor Peter Walter. From 2007 to 2009 with an SNSF grant for young researchers and from 2009 to 2011 with a scholarship for advanced researchers.
He is Assistant Professor of Cell-Organelle Biology (SNSF Fellowship) in the Department of Biology (D-BIOL) at ETH Zurich since 2012.
Practical information
- Informed public
- Free