MB&B Seminar: Jeanne Stachowiak, "Intrinsic Disorder as an Organizing Principle for Biological Membranes"

Abstract: Recent progress in our lab and others illustrates that networks composed of proteins with a high degree of intrinsic disorder may provide the necessary flexibility to facilitate efficient assembly of functional protein complexes at membrane surfaces. We found that a flexible network of disordered proteins helps to catalyze the assembly of endocytic structures at the plasma membrane. Interestingly, the stability of this dynamic network is regulated by ubiquitination of both the endocytic machinery and transmembrane cargo proteins. This understanding provides new insight into the optimal design of therapeutic carriers that harness endocytosis for cellular entry. More broadly, our lab seeks to understand and mimic the ability of biological membranes to spontaneously reorganize in response to diverse cues. This remarkable capacity for self-organization, which is largely absent in man-made materials, holds great promise for the design of active materials and cell-like therapeutic systems.