Morgan Huse, Ph.D.
Sloan-Kettering Institute
Morgan Huse教授从Rockefeller University获得其博士学位后，前往Stanford University进行博士后训练，2007年后在Sloan-Kettering Institute创建自己的实验室，进行独立的科研研究。他致力于细胞内信号分子的动态研究，细胞骨架微管参与免疫细胞受体活化的研究，以及单细胞高质量高分辨率研究方法开发方面的研究。在免疫学领域、动态荧光成像领域有着卓越的表现，其发表文章30余篇，分别发表在Nature, J Exp Med.， Immunol Rev. ，Nat Immunol.，J Cell Biol.，Immunity等相关学科的顶尖级杂志。并于获得Searle Scholars奖等多项荣誉。
Title: Patterning the Immunological Synapse with Lipid Second Messengers
Lymphocytes can completely transform their cellular architecture in a matter of minutes in response to cell surface receptor stimulation. This structural plasticity plays a crucial role in immune responses, but it has been difficult to study because lymphocytes are so small and they respond so quickly. To circumvent these issues, our lab uses a multidisciplinary approach that combines photochemistry, protein design, and single cell live imaging. Specifically, we have developed photocaged protein reagents that enable us to stimulate cell surface receptors with a pulse of ultraviolet light. Using these reagents in conjunction with total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy, we have explored lymphocyte activation, inhibition, migration, and the acquisition of cell polarity. At the meeting, I will focus on our studies of the immunological synapse (IS), the specialized cell-cell junction that forms between a T cell and its cognate antigen-presenting cell (APC). The IS maintains the specificity of effector responses by channeling secretion directionally toward the APC. IS formation is characterized by reorientation of the microtubule-organizing center (MTOC) to a position at the center of the contact site. Concomitantly, filamentous actin (F-actin) accumulates in a dense ring at the periphery. Our work has demonstrated that this stereotyped cytoskeletal architecture is dictated by two distinct lipid second messengers, diacylglycerol (DAG) and phosphatidylinositol trisphosphate (PIP3). DAG accumulates in the center of the IS, where it guides the polarization of the MTOC. Conversely, PIP3 localizes to the periphery, where it drives annular accumulation of F-actin. Hence, the cytoskeleton is patterned at the IS by localized lipid gradients in the overlying plasma membrane. Mechanisms like this are particularly well suited for the rapid generation of polarized cellular structures, and are likely to be of general importance to leukocyte cell biology.
Venue: Room143, New Biology Building, THU
Time: July 25 (Thursday), 2013; 16:00
Host: Prof. Wanli Liu
