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VERSION:2.0
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SUMMARY:Faculty seminar - Making the Plasma Membrane: uncovering the princ
 iples and significance of lipid remodeling along the biosynthetic pathway
DTSTART:20231214T121500
DTEND:20231214T131500
DTSTAMP:20260510T123829Z
UID:bae5f1650389efe16ef36e5f5ec84410f13f7778c0757683399c8b69
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Giovanni D'Angelo\nAbstract\nEukaryotic cells produce thousand
 s of lipids that populate their membranes in varying proportions. The lipi
 d composition of membranes determines their thickness\, fluidity\, and pha
 se behavior. Moreover\, lipids function as first or second messengers in s
 ignal transduction and recruit proteins to specific cellular locations\, p
 laying a pivotal organizational role in eukaryotic cells.\nAn example of l
 ipid diversity is found in membranes of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and
  subsequent compartments of the biosynthetic pathway\, such as the plasma 
 membrane (PM). While ER membranes have low levels of sterols and sphingoli
 pids\, these lipids constitute significant fractions of the extracellular 
 leaflet of the PM. The transition between these two "lipid territories" oc
 curs at the trans-Golgi and is driven by non-vesicular lipid exchange\, fa
 cilitated by intracellular lipid transfer proteins (LTPs) at ER-trans-Golg
 i membrane contact sites (ER-TG MCSs). Despite its importance in controlli
 ng lipid distribution\, the operating principles and significance of lipid
  remodeling along the biosynthetic pathway remain poorly understood.\nIn t
 he Lipid Cell Biology Laboratory\, we address these issues by focusing on 
 three central questions:\n(i) How is the PM lipid territory formed?\n(ii) 
 How is the PM lipid territory maintained?\n(iii) What is the significance 
 of PM lipid compositional diversity?\nOur investigation led to the hypothe
 sis that individual cells exist in specific PM lipid compositional states 
 that interact with signaling and transcriptional configurations to determi
 ne cellular phenotypes.\n\nBio\nGiovanni D’Angelo graduated in 2003 with
  an MSc in Medical Biotechnology from the School of Medicine\, University 
 “Federico II” of Naples\, Italy\, and obtained his PhD in Cell Biology
  in 2008 from the Consorzio ‘Mario Negri’ SUD in Santa Maria Imbaro\, 
 Italy. For his postdoctoral training\, he moved to the Telethon Institute 
 for Genetics and Medicine in Naples\, Italy\, to study sphingolipid metabo
 lism and intracellular lipid trafficking.\n\nIn 2012\, Giovanni moved to t
 he Institute of Protein Biochemistry at the National Research Council of I
 taly as a principal investigator. In 2018\, he joined EPFL as an Assistant
  Professor and Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Chair on Metabolism. Since 2022\, G
 iovanni has been an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Stony Brook University\
 , NY\, USA. Giovanni's primary interest lies in understanding the signific
 ance of compositional variability in cell membranes by studying the mechan
 isms that determine lipid composition.\n\nThis seminar is part of the eval
 uation of Dr D’Angelo for the promotion to associate professor.\n 
LOCATION:SV 1717 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==SV%201717 https://epfl.zoom.u
 s/j/63088643831
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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