The National Institutes of Health has awarded Jeanne Stachowiak's lab with a five-year R01 grant aimed at gaining a detailed physical understanding of endocytosis.
Jeanne Stachowiak
The National Institutes of Health has awarded Jeanne Stachowiak's lab with a five-year R01 grant aimed at gaining a detailed physical understanding of endocytosis.
An essential process in all cells, endocytosis is required for nutrient uptake, signaling, and recycling of lipids and membrane proteins. Viral and bacterial pathogens hijack endocytosis to infect cells. Misregulation of endocytosis plays a role in many diseases from cystic fibrosis to cancer.
Endocytosis occurs when a family of proteins assemble into a rigid coat at the cellular plasma membrane, causing the membrane to bend inward and form an endocytic vesicle that encapsulates material from outside the cell. While the molecular components of endocytic vesicles have been largely identified, critical physiological questions remain unanswered. Specifically, how does the coat physically sense and adapt to cargo, and what criteria determine the size and cargo content of vesicles?
To address these questions, Dr. Stachowiak's work will measure and compare the energetic costs and contributions of cargos and coats during the process of vesicle assembly. Ultimately, it is envisioned that increased fundamental understanding of the mechanics of endocytic vesicle assembly will enable its clinical manipulation, providing new approaches for treating diseases that arise from disruptions in the process and preventing its exploitation by pathogens.
