Annual Meeting

Shining lights on the cell

A Discover BMB symposium: Cell Signaling — New Tools and Emerging Concepts
Jin Zhang Kevin H. Gardner
By Jin Zhang and Kevin H. Gardner
Sept. 23, 2022

The cellular machinery is a remarkable system that is able to regulate myriad life processes with exquisite specificity by responding to a variety of environmental cues. This essential regulation is achieved through a network of highly dynamic signaling molecules that are regulated both spatially and temporally.

Inspired by nature’s fluorescent proteins and photosensors, biochemists have made tremendous advances toward developing new classes of genetically encoded protein tools to detect and control signaling activities with high spatiotemporal precision. With these new tools, new kinds of biochemistry, biology and cell biology are being discovered on a regular basis.

For the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology annual meeting, Discover BMB, in Seattle in March, we have assembled symposia featuring some of the top experts in these diverse fields who will discuss new tools for manipulating and visualizing the activity of enzymes and other classes of protein activity in living cells across a range of settings. As an example of the impact of these tools, we will highlight the emerging field of liquid–liquid phase separation as an organizing principle of cell signaling uniquely identified by advances in our ability to probe and control biomolecules in vitro and in cells.

Keywords: Optogenetics, fluorescent biosensors, protein engineering, phase separation.

Who should attend: Biochemists, cell biologists and protein engineers interested in novel protein-based tools to observe and control cellular behavior as well as new concepts in cellular organization that have emerged from use of these reagents.

Theme song: “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd.

This session is powered by high-quality photons — from the UV to the infrared.

Speakers

Toolkit for native biochemistry: Sensors, actuators and computational tools
Kevin H. Gardner (chair), City University of New York Advanced Science Research Center
Klaus HahnUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Sabrina SpencerUniversity of Colorado Boulder
David van ValenCalifornia Institute of Technology

Spatiotemporal control of cellular signaling
Jin Zhang (chair), University of California, San Diego
Mark von ZastrowUniversity of California, San Francisco
Lukasz BugajUniversity of Pennsylvania
Anton BennettYale University

Liquid–liquid phase separation as a signaling paradigm
Christine Mayr (chair), Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Zhijian "James" ChenUniversity of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Sarah VeatchUniversity of Michigan
Shana Elbaum–GarfinkleCity University of New York Advanced Science Research Center

Enjoy reading ASBMB Today?

Become a member to receive the print edition four times a year and the digital edition monthly.

Learn more
Jin Zhang
Jin Zhang

Jin Zhang is a professor at the University of California, San Diego, and co-director of the Cell Signaling Center at UCSD.

Kevin H. Gardner
Kevin H. Gardner

Kevin H. Gardner is a professor at the City College of New York and director of the CUNY Advanced Science Research Center’s Structural Biology Initiative.

Get the latest from ASBMB Today

Enter your email address, and we’ll send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.

Latest in Science

Science highlights or most popular articles

How sugars shape Marfan syndrome
Journal News

How sugars shape Marfan syndrome

Sept. 10, 2025

Research from the University of Georgia shows that Marfan syndrome–associated fibrillin-1 mutations disrupt O glycosylation, revealing unexpected changes that may alter the protein's function in the extracellular matrix.

What’s in a diagnosis?
Essay

What’s in a diagnosis?

Sept. 4, 2025

When Jessica Foglio’s son Ben was first diagnosed with cerebral palsy, the label didn’t feel right. Whole exome sequencing revealed a rare disorder called Salla disease. Now Jessica is building community and driving research for answers.

Peer through a window to the future of science
Annual Meeting

Peer through a window to the future of science

Sept. 3, 2025

Aaron Hoskins of the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Sandra Gabelli of Merck, co-chairs of the 2026 ASBMB annual meeting, to be held March 7–10, explain how this gathering will inspire new ideas and drive progress in molecular life sciences.

Glow-based assay sheds light on disease-causing mutations
Journal News

Glow-based assay sheds light on disease-causing mutations

Sept. 2, 2025

University of Michigan researchers create a way to screen protein structure changes caused by mutations that may lead to new rare disease therapeutics.

How signals shape DNA via gene regulation
Journal News

How signals shape DNA via gene regulation

Aug. 19, 2025

A new chromatin isolation technique reveals how signaling pathways reshape DNA-bound proteins, offering insight into potential targets for precision therapies. Read more about this recent MCP paper.

A game changer in cancer kinase target profiling
Journal News

A game changer in cancer kinase target profiling

Aug. 19, 2025

A new phosphonate-tagging method improves kinase inhibitor profiling, revealing off-target effects and paving the way for safer, more precise cancer therapies tailored to individual patients. Read more about this recent MCP paper.