Department of Chemistry

How does the Plasma Membrane Participate in Receptor-Mediated Cell Signaling?

Professor Barbara Baird | Cornell University

Hosted by Professor Andreas Gahlmann

Cells are poised to respond to their physical environment and to chemical stimuli in terms of collective molecular interactions that are regulated in time and space by the plasma membrane and its connections with the cytoskeleton and intracellular structures. Small molecules may engage specific receptors to initiate a transmembrane signal, and the surrounding system efficiently rearranges to amplify this nanoscale interaction to microscale assemblies, yielding a cellular response that often reaches to longer length scales within the organism. A striking example of signal integration over multiple length scales is the allergic immune response. IgE receptors (FceRI) on mast cells are the gatekeepers of this response, and this system has proven to be a valuable model for investigating receptor-mediated cellular activation. My talk will describe our efforts with quantitative fluorescence microscopy and modeling to investigate the poised, “resting state” of the plasma membrane and how signaling, initiated by an external stimulus and mediated by specific receptors, is regulated and targeted within this milieu.