Tom Rapoport Part 2: How are cellular organelles shaped?
The ER is a vast network that includes different domains with different functions. The rough ER is made of ribosome covered membrane sheets and is involved in protein translation. The smooth ER consists of tubules and is important for lipid synthesis and Ca2+ transport. In his second talk, Rapoport explains how his lab identified several families of proteins needed to generate and maintain a tubular ER network. Using ultra-thin section microscopy, Rapoport and others also showed that stacked ER sheets are held together by helicoidal membrane connections that form a “parking-garage” like structure.
View the full talk with additional resources on our website
Eukaryotic cells have many different membrane-bound organelles with distinct functions and characteristic shapes. How does this happen? Dr. Tom Rapoport explains the important role of protein sorting in determining organelle shape and function. (Talk recorded in February 2019)
Dr. Tom Rapoport has been a Professor of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School since 1995 and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator since 1997. Prior to joining Harvard, Rapoport was a Professor at the Institute for Molecular Biology in East Berlin, which later became the Max-Delbrück Institute for Molecular Medicine. Rapoport received his PhD…