Iván López-Montero

Abstract:

Usually surrounded by biomembranes, cell organelles are highly dynamic systems undergoing a continuous recycling while maintaining their shape, distribution and size to perform specialized functions efficiently. These complex compartments are built of hundreds of proteins and lipid species operating under out-of-equilibrium conditions. Biomimetic approaches using reconstituted proteins into model lipid membranes provide a simplified approach to live-cell studies. In this seminar I will address the self-assembly and mechanical interplay between lipid bilayers and proteins playing important roles in essential cell processes, such as the synthesis of the chemical energy of the cell or the mitochondrial dynamics.