Annual Meeting

The era of “smart” organelles

A Discover BMB symposium: Organelles, Mechanisms and Phase Properties of Cellular Quality Control
W. Mike Henne Cheryl A. Kerfeld
By W. Mike Henne and Cheryl A. Kerfeld
Sept. 28, 2022

Organelles are the fundamental units of cellular organization, and our understanding of their roles in cell physiology has evolved dramatically since they first were described in the early 20th century. Though organelles originally were thought of as simple compartments for biochemical reactions and confined to eukaryotes, new studies have revealed “smart” roles for them in fine-tuning metabolism as well as serving as platforms coordinating signaling and quality-control pathways in both bacteria and eukaryotes.

Recent work illuminates the organizational principles governing how organelles cleverly coordinate cell quality control. These reveal how organelles create microenvironments for metabolic pathways, how they facilitate interorganelle communication to sense and respond to specific cues, and how the phase properties of lipids and proteins equip organelles to protect cells from stress and maintain organismal homeostasis.

Our symposia at the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’s annual meeting, Discover BMB, in Seattle in March illustrate these themes and feature work in an array of fields, including prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell biology, cancer biology, and phase separation biophysics.

Just like in the song “Whatever It Takes” by Imagine Dragons, organelles are equipped to do whatever is necessary for cells to adapt and survive the ever-present challenges of life.

Keywords: Bacterial microcompartments, interorganelle communication, protein and lipid phase separation, mitochondrial metabolism.

Who should attend: Anyone interested in learning how organelles are constructed, organized and responsive to signals. Also people interested in the phase properties of proteins and lipids in organelle biology.

Theme song: “Whatever It Takes” by Imagine Dragons.

The session is powered by lipids, proteins and cellular stress.

Speakers

Bacterial organelles
Luning LuUniversity of Liverpool
Danielle Tullman–ErcekNorthwestern University
Cheryl Kerfeld (chair), Michigan State University
Arash KomelliUniversity of California, Berkeley

Phase separation in organelle structure and function
W. Mike Henne (chair), University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
David SavageUniversity of California, Berkeley/Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Martin JonikasPrinceton University
Alex MerzUniversity of Washington School of Medicine

Inter-organelle communication
Rushika Perera (chair), University of California, San Francisco
Karin ReinischYale University
Laura LacknerNorthwestern University
Sarah CohenUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Enjoy reading ASBMB Today?

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

Learn more
W. Mike Henne
W. Mike Henne

W. Mike Henne is an assistant professor in the department of cell biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. His lab studies lipid droplets and the organization of metabolism in cells.

Cheryl A. Kerfeld
Cheryl A. Kerfeld

Cheryl A. Kerfeld is a researcher at the US Department of Energy Plant Research Lab and a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Michigan State University.

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

Does a protein hold the key to Alzheimer’s?
Journal News

Does a protein hold the key to Alzheimer’s?

Dec. 10, 2024

Researchers in Maryland and Massachusetts team up to study how SORL1 promotes tau trafficking and seeding in cells that leads to the neurodegenerative disorder.

Cracking the recipe for perfect plant-based eggs
News

Cracking the recipe for perfect plant-based eggs

Dec. 8, 2024

It involves finding just the right proteins. With new ingredients and processes, the next generation of substitutes will be not just more egg-like, but potentially more nutritious.

MSU researchers leverage cryo-EM for decades-in-the-making breakthrough
News

MSU researchers leverage cryo-EM for decades-in-the-making breakthrough

Dec. 7, 2024

Lee Kroos and Ben Orlando have reported the first high-resolution experimentally determined structures of the intramembrane protease SpolVFB.

From the Journals: MCP
Journal News

From the Journals: MCP

Dec. 6, 2024

Rapid and precise SARS-CoV-2 detection using mass spec. Mapping brain changes from drug addiction. Decoding plant osmotic stress response. Read about recent MCP papers on these topics.

What seems dead may not be dead
Award

What seems dead may not be dead

Dec. 4, 2024

Vincent Tagliabracci will receive the Earl and Thressa Stadtman Distinguished Scientist Award at the ASBMB Annual Meeting, April 12–15 in Chicago.

'You can't afford to be 15 years behind the parasite'
Award

'You can't afford to be 15 years behind the parasite'

Dec. 3, 2024

David Fidock will receive the Alice and C.C. Wang Award in Molecular Parasitology at the 2025 ASBMB Annual Meeting, April 12–15 in Chicago.