Seminar "Deterministic roles for cytoplasmic flow in cellular decision-making" Gregory Jedd

Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics (Shen) Unit would like to invite you to the seminar by Prof. Gregory Jedd on May 30th (Thursday).
 
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Date: Thursday, May 30, 2019
Time: 11:00-12:00
Venue: D015 (Level D, Lab 1)
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Speaker:

Prof. Gregory Jedd
TEMASEK Life Science Laboratory

Title:

Deterministic roles for cytoplasmic flow in cellular decision-making

Abstract:

Cells employ cytoplasmic streaming to mix their contents. This transport function is well established and especially important in large cells where diffusion is limiting. My talk will focus on two systems where cytoplasmic flow provides signals that the cell employs to make decisions. In the first, I will show how directional cytoplasmic streaming produces positional information. In fungal cell filaments, nuclei flow with the cytoplasm, but can also become trapped in “flow eddies”. These trapped nuclei differentiate to express genes required to protect nearby regions of the cell from mechanical stress caused by flow. Thus, the pattern of flow creates information that nuclei perceive to alter their fate in a purposeful manner. In the second half, I will describe a system where cell injury leads to explosive discharge of cytoplasm and its instantaneous hardening. A cytoplasmic protein, Medusa, appears to mediate hardening. When Medusa is knocked-out, wounding leads to uncontrolled cytoplasmic bleeding. Ongoing structure-function analysis suggests that Medusa is both a sensor and effector of flow-induced hardening. The talk will conclude with speculation on the general implications of these findings.

Biography:

Greg Jedd earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from Stanford University and his PhD from the University of Chicago. He conducted postdoctoral research at the Rockefeller University before joining TLL as a principal investigator in 2004. He is currently a senior principal investigator. His group develops unconventional model systems to investigate fundamental questions in cell and evolutionary biology.

Host:

Prof. Amy Shen