Third Annual Richard Barber and Ratna & Vaman Naik Endowed Lecture in Interdisciplinary Physics

Tobias Baumgart, professor of Physical & Biological Chemistry and Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Pennsylvania

Mechanisms of cellular membrane shape transitions: from lipids to Fast Endophilin Mediated Endocytosis

The process of endocytosis is of tremendous biomedical interest since it enables numerous pathogens to enter the cell, including bacteria, viruses, and bacterial toxins. Despite having been the subject of an extraordinary amount of published research, key questions remain regarding mechanisms of initiation and regulation. Focusing on a recently discovered clathrin-independent pathway that enables fast response to receptor stimulation, we aim to improve the understanding of how membrane shape transitions are regulated in healthy and pathological conditions. We will discuss membrane shape regulation in several different layers of complexity, beginning with the lipid bilayer itself and all the way to the question of how cytoskeletal interactions help shape biological membranes.