Mechanoregulation of Clathrin-mediated Endocytosis in Cells and Tissues

Speaker: Comert Kural, Ph.D.
Affiliation: Ohio State University

Abstract:  Clathrin-coated molecular carriers are the best-characterized and most extensively studied mediators of endocytosis, a cellular mechanism responsible for internalization of macromolecules from the plasma membrane. The interplay between intercellular mechanical forces and dynamics of the endocytic clathrin machinery has important roles during development of complex multicellular organisms. Due to technical limitations, however, effects of mechanical cues generated during development of organisms on formation and dissolution of clathrin-coated carriers are not characterized.  In the first part of my talk, I will focus on the strategies we developed for determining the variations in clathrin coat dynamics within tissues of a developing organism.  In the second part, I will highlight our work on characterizing the tension-based regulation of clathrin-mediated endocytosis and our long term aims for utilizing this information as non-invasive membrane tension sensors applicable to tissues of developing organisms.

Biography:  Comert Kural is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at the Ohio State University where he has been a faculty member since 2012.  Comert completed his undergraduate studies at Bilkent University Department of Physics and his PhD at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Program of Biophysics and Computational Biology. His interest in the endocytic processes dates back to his years at Harvard Medical School where he worked as a Helen Hay Whitney Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow. His broad research interests lie in the area of quantitative biology, ranging from cellular mechanics and high-resolution fluorescence live cell microscopy. Comert has recently received a Faculty Early Career Development Award from the National Science Foundation.

For more information, contact Prof. Aydogan Ozcan (ozcan@ucla.edu)

Date/Time:
Date(s) - Feb 23, 2018
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Location:
E-IV Tesla Room #53-125
420 Westwood Plaza - 5th Flr., Los Angeles CA 90095