UC San Diego and Kobe University have promoted research collaborations over the years in the fields of life science, computational science, and structural engineering. Lipids in biology and biochemistry have been a topic of great mutual interest thanks to the expertise at both institutions. For the “Cell Signaling and Lipid Sciences” joint webinar series, UC San Diego Cell Signaling Center researchers will share some of the latest research findings along with colleagues at the Biosignal Research Center and the Center for Medical Transformation at Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine.
Lipid components of cell membranes and their interactions with proteins have critical roles in cell migration, apoptosis, differentiation, and many other dynamic processes underlying biological functions. Lipids and lipid metabolites are essential components of the structure and function of the brain, and their dysregulation is related to several neurological diseases. In fact, the brain has the highest lipid content in our bodies apart from adipose tissue. In this session, two professors will recent works using latest techniques to study cell membranes, including engineered surface to model membrane structure and single molecule imaging to visualize membrane dynamics.
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Date: Thu, November 21st, 4:00-5:15pm (PST) / Fri, November 21st, 9:00-10:15am (JST)
Zoom Webinar
(Opens an external site)
Program
| Japan Time | Pacific Time | Agenda |
| 9:00-9:05 | 4:00-4:05 | Welcome – Shunichi Takahashi, PhD, LINK-J and Miwako Waga, UC San Diego Remarks –Dr. Yasuhito Shirai, Professor and Dean, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University Remarks and Speaker Introduction – Dr. Itay Budin, Assistant Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry and Bioengineering, UC San Diego |
| 9:05-9:30 | 4:05-4:30 | Presentation -“How to spy on a membrane: Developing and using tools to eavesdrop on communication between organelles” Dr. Christopher Obara, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Chemistry & Biochemistry, UC San Diego |
| 9:30-9:34 | 4:30-4:34 | Q&A moderated by Dr. Budin |
| 9:35 | 4:35 | Kobe University speaker introduction by Dr. Shirai |
| 9:35-10:00 | 4:35-5:00 | Presentation -“Micropatterned model membrane platform for studying the membrane structures, physicochemical properties, and functions” Dr. Kenichi Morigaki, Professor, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University |
| 10:00-10:14 | 5:00-5:14 | Q&A and Discussion moderated by Drs. Shirai & Budin |
| 10:14-10:15 | 5:14-5:15 | Closing Remarks |
Abstract
Dr. Obara's talk
"How to spy on a membrane: Developing and using tools to eavesdrop on communication between organelles"
Membrane-enclosed organelles are the hallmark of eukaryotic cells, forming physically distinct compartments where biochemically incompatible reactions can occur simultaneously. Membranes form complex landscapes whose contact sites are used by cells for poorly understood mechanisms of communication between organelles. Despite the crucial central role in nearly every biological process in eukaryotes, direct observation of membrane structure and composition at these contact sites has proven largely elusive due to limitations in sample preparation, reagent availability, and the spatiotemporal limitations of most microscopy tools. Emerging technologies in cryogenics, electron microscopy, and fluorescence imaging promise to bridge this gap. I will present work derived from three pipelines that correlate information between emerging technologies for understanding the ultrastructure, composition, and dynamics of organelle membranes at contact sites. I will also present how we use these approaches to uncouple fundamental biological aspects of protein sorting and inter-organelle communication at contact sites between the membranes of different organelles.
Dr.Morigaki's talk
"Micropatterned model membrane platform for studying the membrane structures, physicochemical properties, and functions"
The biological membrane is a complex two-dimensional fluid, in which the lateral localization and three-dimensional confinement of membrane-associated molecules are regulated. We have been developing a model system of the biological membrane on a solid substrate by combining a patterned lipid bilayer and nanometric space. A patterned bilayer is lithographically generated from polymerized and natural (fluid) lipid bilayers. The polymeric bilayer acts as a framework to define the geometry of the fluid bilayers and enhance their stability. The fluid bilayers comprise natural lipids and membrane proteins, and retain the physicochemical properties the biological membrane. The physicochemical and functional properties of reconstituted membrane proteins can be studied in a controlled lipid membrane environment.
The model membranes can be confined in a nanometric aqueous space that mimics the membrane clefts in the biological systems. A nanofluidic channel (nanogap-junction) was formed between the fluid bilayer and a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) slab by attaching the polymeric bilayer and PDMS slab using an adhesion layer composed of silica nanoparticles having well-defined sizes. Membrane-bound molecules diffused laterally and migrated into the nanogap-junction, where they could be observed with a vastly improved signal-to-background ratio. The nanogap-junction effectively separates the sites of membrane-binding and observation, and provides a novel platform for studying the molecular properties and functions of membrane-associated molecules at the single molecular level.
Patterned model membrane in combination with a nanometric confinement provides a promising platform for biophysical studies and biomedical applications.
Biography
 | Dr. Yasuhito Shirai, Professor and Dean, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University Yasuhito Shirai is a Professor and Dean of the Graduate School of Agricultural Science at Kobe University. |
 | Dr. Itay Budin, Assistant Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry and Bioengineering, UC San Diego Dr. Itay Budin is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Chemistry & Biochemistry and Bioengineering at UC San Diego. Trained as a biophysicist, his lab investigates the interplay between lipid chemistry and cell membrane function. Dr. Budin received his PhD from Harvard University and carried out postdoctoral studies as a Miller Fellow at UC Berkeley. He is the recipient of the Walter Shaw Young Investigator Award in lipid biology from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and early career awards from the National Science Foundation and US Department of Energy. |
 | Dr. Christopher Obara, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Chemistry & Biochemistry, UC San Diego Christopher Obara is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Pharmacology, and Chemistry & Biochemistry at UC San Diego. He received his bachelor’s degrees in physics and entomology at the University of Florida and his PhD at the National Institutes of Health, where he studied how vaccines and other immune responses affect virus infection using statistical physics approaches. His postdoctoral work with Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz at HHMI Janelia Research Campus was focused on the development and application of advanced imaging approaches to characterize the biophysical processes in cellular membranes. In 2024, he started his lab at UC San Diego, where he is exploring how living systems evolved to use basic macromolecules like proteins, lipids, and sugars to solve the complex energetic and cellular problems. |
 | Dr. Kenichi Morigaki, Professor, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University Dr. Kenichi Morigaki is a Professor in the Biosignal Research Center (BSRC), at Kobe University. He graduated The University of Tokyo in 1991, and then earned his PhD in 1998 from the Department of Chemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology-Zurich. After he worked as postdoctoral fellow at Max-Planck-Institute of Polymer Research& Swiss Federal Institute of Technology-Zurich, he had a position as Research Scientist at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (Japan). In 2009, he became an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University and finally became a Professor at BSRC at Kobe University. He is developing a synthetic model system of the biological membranes on solid substrate to understand their functions and apply them to biomedical applications. |
Participation Fee
Free
Organizer
Organizer：LINK-J
Co-organizer：University of California San Diego
Contact
LINK-J
contact@link-j.org
