The RMS are pleased to be partnering with Leica Microsystems in delivering this RMS Corporate Member Hosted Event.
The cortex is a many-layered and complex area of the brain. To form this structure, neurons need to migrate during development from where they arise to their functional layer. This cortical migration requires precisely regulated interactions between cell adhesion receptors. These are proteins that interact with other molecules to guide neurons to their niche location. In recent years, Professor Elena Seiradake’s team at the University of Oxford have functionally characterised several protein complexes that create a network of cell adhesion receptors. They use a combination of structural biology (macromolecular crystallography and cryo-EM) and cellular biology to create tools that enable them to study the function of each complex in vitro and in vivo.
In this webinar, members of Elena’s team will present case studies exploring the microscopy-based tools and assays they use to elucidate some of these complex interactions, and how these can contribute to wider understanding of the biology of neuron migration. These include surface binding assays, aggregation assays, and stripe assays, as well as sample preparation for cryo-electron tomography.
Key learnings:
- How different microscopy techniques are used to explore the role of receptors in guiding brain development.
- How cell biology assays such as stripe, cell aggregation and surface binding assays can help investigate the functions of receptors and their complexes in vitro.
- How the THUNDER Imaging System within The University of Oxford’s Micron Bioimaging Facility supports this research.
Banner image shows a stripe assay performed on a THUNDER Imager Live Cell & 3D Assay. Courtesy of Maria Carrasquero Ordaz, University of Oxford.
A Leica online event, hosted by the Royal Microscopical Society.
Presenters
Amy Victoria Roberts
Department of Biochemistry and Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery, University of Oxford
Amy completed her undergraduate Masters in Biochemistry at Somerville College, University of Oxford in 2023. She has been a member of the Seiradake lab since her Masters project and started her DPhil (PhD) in the same year. Her current work explores the interactions of mouse and Drosophila cell-adhesion molecules that play a role in developmental neuron migration, using cellular and structural methods including single-particle cryo-electron microscopy and cryo-electron tomography.
Miguel Berbeira-Santana
Department of Biochemistry and Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery, University of Oxford
Miguel is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Structural Biology at the Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford. He has a DPhil (PhD) in Biochemistry from the University of Oxford and a BSc in Basic and Experimental Biomedicine from the University of Seville (Spain). He combines structural biology and cell biology to study the role of complexes of cell adhesion molecules during cortical migration. Recently, he has used cell biology assays to study the Teneurin-Latrophilin and the GPC3-Unc5D complexes (Del Toro et al., 2020; Akkermans et al., 2022). He also uses cryogenic electron microscopy alongside cell-based approaches to study the role of Teneurin interactions in the developing brain. When not in the lab, Miguel likes reading fiction and history books, cycling, running, hiking and cooking with olive oil.
RMS Contact
Victoria Masters
victoria@rms.org.uk
01865 254769
Contact Victoria for RMS Event Hosting, Corporate Member Hosted events and RMS EDI&A queries.