Publications
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BBS Faculty Member - Luke Chao
Luke Chao Department of Genetics Simches Building, CPZN 6808 185 Cambridge St. Boston, MA 02114 Tel: 617-724-2323 Email: chao@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu Visit my lab page here. |
Macromolecular assemblies at membranes control the biogenesis, maintenance and disassembly of organelles. We are interested in understanding how proteins assemblies determine the shape of micro-scale cellular structures by directly reconstituting their activities and visualizing the essential conformational changes they undergo. Our integrated biochemical/biophysical approach uses the latest advances in fluorescence microscopy and electron cryo-microscopy (Cryo-EM).
The major questions we seek to address include:
1) Kinetics of membrane rearrangement: Proteins that catalyze membrane rearrangement carefully time their coordinated activity in a manner tightly controlled by the cell’s metabolic state. How do multiple copies of these proteins cooperate? How are multi-membrane events organized in time and space? How are cellular cues integrated to regulate the activity of cellular membrane machineries?
2) Conformational state of membrane remodelers in cells: Membrane organization is determined by specific conformational rearrangements proteins undergo. What are the conformational states of these proteins in different sub-cellular contexts? How does higher-order organization of conformers influence organelle function? What are the molecular consequences of inter-organelle contacts and how do these effects influence membrane dynamics?
Compartmentalization by membrane-delineated organelles is essential for physiological specialization and often disrupted in disease. Our long-term goal is to generate sufficient molecular insight to write an instruction manual for building customized organelles.
Last Update: 12/15/2016