UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

M O L E C U L A R & C O M P U TAT I O NA L B I O LO G Y
COLLOQUIUM SERIES

Xianrui Cheng, PhD

Stanford University
Department of Chemical and
Systems Biology
will present on

“Signal Transmission and

Pattern Formation in the
Cytoplasm”

Thursday,
Friday, January 10, 2020
February
12:00 pm20th, 2020
to 1:00 pm
RRI 101 10:30am to 11:30am
Ray R. Irani Hall
Ray1050 Childs
R. Irani Way, RRI 101
Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90089-2910
1050 Childs Way, RRI 101
Los Angeles, CA 90089-2910
For additional
information, contact:
Ian Ehrenreich,
ehrenrei@usc.edu
Uluwehi Baldmor
baldmore@usc.edu
Abstract:
Apoptosis is a form of physiological cell death that typically initiates
from isolated points and spreads to all nooks and crannies of the
cytoplasm. The spread of apoptotic signals is important for spatially
coordinating apoptosis, yet its mechanism remains unclear. Using
quantitative live imaging of frog eggs, oocytes and cell-free egg
extracts, we show that rather than by simple diffusion which slows
down and peters out over longer distances, apoptotic signals are
propagated by self-regenerating chemical waves (trigger waves) with a
constant speed and sustained intensity. We show that trigger waves
arise from positive feedback regulation, and propose that they may be a
general mechanism for effective transmission of biological signals over
long distances. While imaging egg extracts, we unexpectedly
discovered that homogenized cytoplasm spontaneously re-organizes
into compartments that resemble cells. Formation of these
compartments requires microtubule, its associated motor protein
dynein, and adenosine triphosphate (ATP), but not F-actin or
centrosome. These compartments can undergo many consecutive cycles
of mitotic divisions, cleaving like cells in an embryo. These findings
show that the cytoplasm suffices to generate the basic spatial
organization of the cell and retains prominent cellular functions.