学术报告
Title：How do cells sense space and time: a tale from the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum
Speaker: Huaqing Cai, Ph.D
Research Associate
Department of Cell Biology, Johns Hopkins University
Time: 1:30pm December 2nd
Venue: Rm. 411, New Life Sciences Building
Abstract：Living organisms are constantly sensing and responding to environmental cues. Information is encoded not only in the identity and abundance of external signals but the spatiotemporal patterns of these variables. The social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum provides a simple yet powerful system to understand how dynamic signals are shaped and interpreted. For Dictyostelium cells, proper differentiation and collective migration are orchestrated by periodic waves of cAMP presented at specific frequencies. In my postdoctoral work, I have uncovered a signaling pathway that is centered on a small GTPase RasC and a conserved kinase complex TORC2 for guiding cell migration along cAMP gradients and a GATA family transcription factor GtaC that shuttles repeatedly between the nucleus and the cytoplasm in response to cAMP waves for directing differentiation-specific gene expression. These studies revealed novel mechanisms for decoding both spatial and temporal signals. Implications of these findings on more complex biological systems will also be discussed.
欢迎各位老师同学积极参加！
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