Higher Order Transient (HOT) Structures and the Principle of Dynamic Connectivity in Membrane Signaling

Event Details

Type

Monday Lecture Series

Speaker(s)

Roderick MacKinnon, M.D., John D. Rockefeller Jr. Professor and head, Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology and Biophysics, The Rockefeller University; investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Speaker bio(s)

Cells convey signals (information) across their membranes through the interactions of membrane proteins that communicate with each other, forming what are called signal pathways, akin to the components in an electronic circuit. But cell membranes are 2-dimensional liquids in which diffusion dominates, raising the questions how do the components connect, and why do coexisting pathways not interfere with each other? In this presentation Dr. MacKinnon will show you that many membrane proteins self-assemble into higher order transient (HOT) structures. Because HOT structures are formed through specific protein interactions, they must be genetically encoded macromolecular units. Dr. MacKinnon will explain how HOT structures (1) underlie a dynamic connectivity by tying together in a statistical manner the components of a signal pathway and (2) permit multiple signal pathways to coexist in the cell membrane.

Roderick MacKinnon received his M.D. from Tufts University School of Medicine in 1982. In 1985 he began an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship at Beth Israel Hospital, Harvard Medical School, which he completed in Christopher Miller's laboratory at Brandeis University. In 1989, MacKinnon returned to Harvard Medical School as assistant professor in the department of cellular and molecular physiology. He transferred to the department of neurobiology in 1991 and became associate professor in 1992. He joined Rockefeller as a professor in 1996. In 1997, he was appointed an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

MacKinnon, who won the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is the recipient of several honors, including a Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize, a Perl-UNC Neuroscience Prize, a Canada Gairdner International Award, a Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award, and an Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award. He is also a member of the American Philosophical Society and the National Academy of Sciences.

MLS lectures are only open to the RU community and will be taking place in Carson Family Auditorium and virtually via Zoom. Virtual participants are required to log in with their RU Zoom account and use their RU email address and password for authentication. We recommend signing out of VPN prior to logging in to the lecture. Please do not share the link or post on social media.

Open to

Campus Only