Molecular Biology Institute

MBI Thursday Research Seminar | Crystal Rogers, Ph.D. | Hosted by Siobhan Braybrook
2021-05-27 09:00 - 10:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Zoom
“Regulating cell fate and survival during embryonic development”
Crystal Rogers, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Anatomy, Physiology and Cell Biology
School of Veterinary Medicine
University of California, Davis

Please email mbiasst@lifesci.ucla.edu to request Zoom link.

MBI Faculty Seminar - Sophie Deng, M.D., Ph.D.
2021-05-25 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Sophie Deng, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor, Ophthalmology

All MBI Faculty Welcome

MBI Thursday Research Seminar | Melina Schuh, Ph.D. | Hosted by Margot Quinlan
2021-05-20 09:00 - 10:00 | Zoom
“New insights into aneuploidy in mammalian embryos”
Melina Schuh, Ph.D.
Director, Department of Meiosis
Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry
Abstract: The Schuh lab studies meiosis in mammalian oocytes. In her presentation, Melina will summarize her lab’s recent research on the spindle in mammalian oocytes. Her lab found that human oocyte spindles are surprisingly unstable, and identified functions for actin and a liquid-like meiotic spindle domain for spindle assembly in mammalian oocytes.
In the main part of her talk, she will present recent work from her lab that sheds light on the origin of high aneuploidy rates in mammalian embryos. The vast majority of human embryos are aneuploid. Aneuploidy frequently arises during the early mitotic divisions of the embryo, but the origin of this remains elusive. Using bovine embryos as a model for human embryos, we identify an error-prone mechanism of parental genome unification which often results in aneuploidy. Surprisingly, genome unification initiates hours before breakdown of the two pronuclei that encapsulate the parental genomes. While still within intact pronuclei, the parental genomes polarize towards each other, in a process driven by centrosomes, dynein, and microtubules. The maternal and paternal chromosomes eventually cluster at the pronuclear interface, in direct proximity to each other. Parental genome clustering often fails however, leading to severe chromosome segregation errors, incompatible with healthy embryo development. Nucleoli, which associate with chromatin, also cluster at the pronuclear interface in human zygotes. Defects in nucleolar clustering correlate with failure in human embryo development, suggesting a conserved mechanism.

Please email mbiasst@lifesci.ucla.edu to request Zoom link.

MBI Thursday Research Seminar | Sarah Slavoff, Ph.D. | Hosted by Keriann Backus
2021-05-13 09:00 - 10:00 | Zoom
“Dark Matter of the Human Genome: Small Open Reading Frames”
Sarah Slavoff, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Chemistry and of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry
Yale University

MBI Faculty Seminar - William Gelbart, Ph.D.
2021-05-11 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
William Gelbart, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry

All MBI Faculty Welcome

MBI Thursday Research Seminar | Sarah Teichmann, FMedSci FRS | Hosted by Maureen Su
2021-05-06 09:00 - 10:00 | Zoom
“Mapping the human intestines throughout life: one cell at a time”
Sarah Teichmann, FMedSci FRS
Head of Cellular Genetics
Wellcome Sanger Institute

Please email mbiasst@lifesci.ucla.edu to request Zoom link.

UCLA Joint Seminars in Neuroscience Lecture | Liqun Luo, Ph.D. | Hosted by Weizhe Hong and Orkun Akin
2021-05-04 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
“Wiring Specificity of Neural Circuits”
Liqun Luo, Ph.D.
Ann & Bill Swindells Professor
Departtment of Biology, Stanford University
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

MBI Thursday Research Seminar | Shawn Burgess, Ph.D. | Hosted by Marc Liesa-Roig
2021-04-29 09:00 - 10:00 | Zoom
“Mapping Mitochondrial Metabolism in Liver and its Importance in NAFLD”
Shawn Burgess, Ph.D.
Professor, Human Nutrition, Pharmacology
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Please email mbiasst@lifesci.ucla.edu to request Zoom link.

MBI Faculty Seminar - Anthony Covarrubias, Ph.D.
2021-04-27 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Anthony Covarrubias, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics

All MBI Faculty Welcome

MBI Thursday Research Seminar | Bil Clemons, Ph.D. | Hosted by Jose Rodriguez and Tracy Johnson
2021-04-22 09:00 - 10:00 | Zoom
“A detailed look at tail-anchored membrane protein targeting – from opisthokonts to protists to plants”
Bil Clemons, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry
California Institute of Technology

Please email mbiasst@lifesci.ucla.edu to request Zoom link.

2020-2021 Sigman Symposium
2021-04-15 10:00 - 11:45 | Zoom
Sigman Symposium Schedule
Sigman Symposium Poster Session

MBI Thursday Research Seminar | Clifford Brangwynne, Ph.D. | Hosted by Margot Quinlan and Kathrin Plath
2021-04-08 09:00 - 10:00 | Zoom
“Fluid forces – phase separation in, on, and around the genome”
Clifford Brangwynne, Ph.D.
Director, Princeton Bioengineering Initiative
June K. Wu ’92 Professor in Engineering
Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Princeton University

Please email mbiasst@lifesci.ucla.edu to request Zoom link.

MBI Faculty Seminar - Aparna Bhaduri, Ph.D.
2021-04-06 12:00 - 13:00 | CA
“An Atlas of Cortical Arealization Identifies Dynamic Molecular Signatures”
Aparna Bhaduri, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Biological Chemistry

All MBI Faculty Welcome

MBI Thursday Research Seminar | Sabine Petry, Ph.D. | Hosted by Margot Quinlan
2021-04-01 09:00 - 10:00 | Zoom
“How to make microtubules and build the cytoskeleton”
Sabine Petry, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Molecular Biology
Princeton University
Abstract:
How does a cell construct its microtubule cytoskeleton? According to Feynman’s principle “what I cannot create, I do not understand”, my lab pursues this question by building the chromosome segregation machinery from scratch. I will first tell you how the microtubule framework is generated in a cell. Upon deciphering the function of the most important microtubule accessory proteins, I will present how we use those building blocks to reconstitute a spindle substructure in vitro and determine its building plan. Finally, I will outline how we combine spindle substructures like pieces of a puzzle to assemble and thereby understand a functioning spindle that segregates chromosomes.
By studying how the MT cytoskeleton is built, I hope to help explain how hundreds of proteins can self-assemble on the nm scale into a complex molecular machine 1000-fold larger than its constituents, a challenge for the biochemistry of the 21st century

Please email mbiasst@lifesci.ucla.edu to request Zoom link.

Journey Talk - Elizabeth Zuniga-Sanchez, Ph.D.
2021-03-31 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom
“Unraveling the molecular code in neural circuit assembly”
Elizabeth Zuniga-Sanchez, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Ophthalmology
Baylor College of Medicine

William Weis, Ph.D. | Hosted by Jie Zheng
2021-03-11 09:00 - 10:00 | Zoom
MBI Thursday Research Seminar

“Force-dependent allosteric regulation of cell-cell adhesion”
William Weis, Ph.D.
William M. Hume Professor in the School of Medicine,
Professor of Structural Biology, of Molecular and Cellular Physiology and of Photon Science
Stanford University

Please email mbiasst@lifesci.ucla.edu for Zoom link.

Journey Talk - Andrew Goldstein, Ph.D.
2021-03-10 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom
“A scientific journey of learning”
Andrew Goldstein, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology

Harold Pimentel, Ph.D.
2021-03-09 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Harold Pimentel, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Computational Medicine, Human Genetics

Luciano Marraffini, Ph.D. | Hosted by Hung Ton-That
2021-03-04 09:00 - 10:00 | Zoom
MBI Thursday Research Seminar

“CRISPR-Cas13 immunity: sacrificing the host for the population”
Luciano Marraffini, Ph.D.
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Professor and Head, Laboratory of Bacteriology
The Rockefeller University

Eri Srivatsan, Ph.D.
2021-03-02 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Eri Srivatsan, Ph.D.
Professor, Surgery

Marisa Bartolomei, Ph.D. | Hosted by Patrick Allard
2021-02-25 09:00 - 10:00 | Zoom
MBI Thursday Research Seminar

“Epigenetic Regulation of Imprinting in Clusters”
Marisa Bartolomei, Ph.D.
Perelman Professor of Cell & Developmental Biology
Co-Director, Epigenetics Institute
University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine

Pearl Quijada, Ph.D.
2021-02-23 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Pearl Quijada, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Integrative Biology & Physiology

David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc | Hosted by Elizabeth Tarling
2021-02-18 09:00 - 10:00 | Zoom
MBI Thursday Research Seminar

“Personalized, Personalized Medicine: Lessons Learned While Chasing My Cure”
David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc
Assistant Professor, Medicine
Perelman School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania

Suraj Bhat, Ph.D.
2021-02-16 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Suraj Bhat, Ph.D.
Professor, Ophthalmology

MBIDP Student Defense - Shawn Tan
2021-02-11 16:00 - 18:00 | Zoom

Tzung K. Hsiai, M.D., Ph.D. | Hosted by Jie Zheng
2021-02-11 09:00 - 10:00 | Zoom
MBI Thursday Research Seminar

“Light at the End of SARS-CoV-2: Integrating 4-D Light-Sheet and Light-Field to Elucidate Cardiac Morphogenesis”
Tzung K. Hsiai, MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine and Bioengineering
UCLA Cardiovascular Engineering & Light-Sheet Imaging Laboratory
Maud Cady Guthman Endowed Chair in Cardiology
Abstract: During cardiac development, peristaltic contraction of the embryonic heart tube produces time-varying hemodynamic forces and pressure gradients across the atrioventricular canal. However, the relative importance of myocardial contraction and hemodynamic force to modulate cardiac morphogenesis remain poorly understood. By using dual illumination and dual detection light-sheet system, we recapitulate flow-mediated Notch1b-Nrg1-ErbB2 signaling underlying the initiation of endocardial trabeculation for contractile function. We demonstrate myocardial contractile force-mediated Notch1b-endothealial mesenchymal transition underlying valvulogenesis in the ventricular outflow tract. Overall, we integrate advanced optics with zebrafish genetics to provide biomechanical insights into cardiac development with translational implications for congenital heart disease.

Please email mbiasst@lifesci.ucla.edu to request Zoom link.

Jodi Nunnari, Ph.D. | Hosted by Catherine Clarke and Alexa Novales
2021-02-04 09:00 - 10:00 | Zoom
MBI Thursday Research Seminar

“Mitochondrial Behavior”
Jodi Nunnari, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor, Molecular and Cellular Biology
University of California, Davis

Alexander Hoffmann, Ph.D.
2021-02-02 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Alexander Hoffmann, Ph.D.
Professor, Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics

MBI Postdoc Chalk Talk - Daniel Velez-Ramirez, Ph.D.
2021-01-28 16:00 - 17:00 | Zoom

Yongsheng Shi, Ph.D. | Hosted by Douglas Black
2021-01-28 09:00 - 10:00 | Zoom
MBI Thursday Research Seminar

“Targeting mRNA 3’ end processing in cancer therapy”
Yongsheng Shi, Ph.D.
Professor, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
University of California, Irvine
