Distinguished Scientist Seminar Series featuring Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz, PhD – “Looking under the hood of cells: from whole cell organelle reconstructions to single molecule dynamics to atomic reconstructions of macromolecules”

IN PERSON

Distinguished Scientist Seminar Series

Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz, PhD
Head, 4D Cellular Physiology
Senior Group Leader
Howard Hughes Medical Institute – Janelia Research Campus

Location: New Research Building Auditorium and via Zoom: https://georgetown.zoom.us/j/94358558548

Title & Abstract: 

“Looking under the hood of cells: from whole cell organelle reconstructions to single molecule dynamics to atomic reconstructions of macromolecules”

Powerful new ways to image the internal structures and complex dynamics of cells are revolutionizing cell biology and bio-medical research. In my talk, I will focus on three emerging technologies capable of revealing new properties of cellular organization at scales ranging from nanometer to atomic resolution. Whole cell milling using Focused Ion Beam Electron Microscopy (FIB-SEM) was used to reconstruct the entire cell volume at 4-nm voxel resolution, revealing all membrane-bound organelles and their trafficking intermediates at isotropic resolution. Single particle tracking using Halo dyes revealed unexpected features of mRNA trafficking, including sites where secretory proteins are translated on ER and their regulation by lysosomes. Finally, High Resolution Template Matching (HRTM) of ribosome subunits in cryo-EM images of intact human cells afforded a look at ribosomes at different stages of peptide elongation at the atomic scale. Together, these new tools open-up a plethora of questions related to mechanisms of cell structure/function that can now be studied in intact cells at the nanometric/molecular level.