Membrane curvature-regulated intracellular signaling

Feb

2026

3:00 pm – 4:00 pm

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2025-26 Neuroscience Seminar Series

Description

Dr. Bianxiao Cui is a professor of Chemistry and Stanford University.

The plasma membrane is fluidic and can adopt a wide variety of deformation and local curvature. Curved membrane structures are inherently three-dimensional, typically tens to hundreds of nanometers in size, below the diffraction limit of light microscopy, and are highly dynamic. Consequently, direct manipulation over the location, magnitude, and stability of membrane curvature in live cells has remained largely unattainable, severely limiting functional studies. We developed vertical nanostructure-based platforms for curvature manipulation and sensing in live cells, referred to as Nanocurves. Membrane curvature has traditionally been studied in the context of endocytosis, where membranes are actively deformed during vesicle formation. Our work demonstrates that membrane curvature plays a far broader and more active role in cellular signaling, including kinase activation, cell adhesion, and endoplasmic reticulum–plasma membrane (ER–PM) contact formation, well beyond processes previously known to involve membrane bending. These studies have led to the discovery of previously unknown cellular structures (curved adhesions), novel signaling pathways (curvature-induced kinase activation), and unexpected regulation mechanisms (curvature-dependent ER-PM contacts). These findings reveal membrane curvature as an instructive regulator of intracellular signaling.

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Hosted by Susanne Ressl

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