Lipids and light for studying (β-)cell biology

Date

Mar 5, 2020

Time

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Speaker

Carsten Schultz

Affiliation

Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, USA

Series

MPI-CBG Thursday Seminar

Language

en

Main Topic

Biologie

Host

André Nadler

Description

Our lab is interested in studying the signal transduction network underlying insulin secretion. We are particularly interested in better understanding the role of lipids in this respect. For this purpose, we are preparing novel lipid-based tools in the chemistry lab. I will present the recently published caged version of the cannabinoid 2-AG and its use in investigating calcium oscillations in β-cells. I will further inform about unpublished work on multifunctional lipid derivatives that are useful for identifying new lipid-binding proteins. On the cell biology side, we find that apart from insulin β-cells secret a large number of small molecules that seem to be essential for synchronized insulin secretion. Finally, I will introduce thermogenetics as a non-invasive tool to generate calcium oscillations and insulin secretion in β-cells.

Last modified: Mar 6, 2020, 12:09:26 AM