The architecture of organelle contact sites

Wanda Kukulski

University Bern, Institut für Biochemie und Molekulare Medizin, Bühlstrasse 28, 3012 Bern, Switzerland, wanda.kukulski@unibe.ch

Organelles interact through close apposition of their membranes. Such contact sites serve the exchange of lipid molecules, calcium transport and organelle biogenesis. The mechanisms by which molecules are transferred across organelle contact sites are poorly understood because little is known about the underpinning supramolecular organisation. We aim to reveal and dissect the architecture composed of proteins and apposing bilayers and thereby shed light on how functional microenvironments between the membranes of two organelles are formed. Towards this goal, we employ correlative light and electron microscopy approaches, which we complement with live fluorescence imaging, biochemical and cell biological experiments.

 

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