Solving the mysteries of bioscience
Foundational Science Fuels Breakthroughs
Inspiring Next-Generation Scientists
string(564) "A two-channel confocal microscopy image showing the distribution of a common phospholipid, phosphatidylcholine (PC), in a human cell. The green channel shows the localization of all PC, which is found in every compartment. The magenta channel shows the localization of PC in trans-Golgi network vesicles, which has been selectively illuminated using genetically encoded protein sensors in that compartment. These sensors will be developed to visualize the transfer of lipids between organelles at contact sites. Credit: Itay Budin and Chris Obara, UCSD"
The Allen Distinguished Investigator program provides three-year grants between $1M and $1.5M to individuals and teams.
Measuring lipid fluxes at membrane contact sites using new chemogenetic proximity sensors
In this project, the investigators will develop visualization and tracking approaches to directly observe the transfer of lipids between organelles in unprecedented detail. These observations will provide insights into the architecture of these complex lipid transfer events and their impacts on cell homeostasis and organelle membrane functions. The tools developed in this project to track the traffic of lipids throughout the cell will be of wide use to the cell biology community, with implications for human metabolic and neurodegenerative disorders.
This project is part of the 2024 Organelle Communication cohort
These researchers will explore a thrilling frontier in cell biology emerging from the discovery that organelles (cellular compartments) can directly connect to each other to exchange materials and information, forming complex and dynamic networks. Much of how these interactions occur remains unknown due to the profound challenges of observing rapid events on a nanometer scale. This cohort will pioneer new tools to directly observe and model the organelle ‘interactome’ across time, space, and cell type. Their findings will expand our understanding of core biological principles, with powerful implications for fields ranging from regenerative medicine to virology.
