{"id":3516,"date":"2015-03-04T13:55:22","date_gmt":"2015-03-04T12:55:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.embl.de\/?p=3516"},"modified":"2024-11-29T16:54:29","modified_gmt":"2024-11-29T15:54:29","slug":"1502_endocytosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1502_endocytosis\/","title":{"rendered":"Best of three worlds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Whether it\u2019s a white blood cell engulfing a bacterial invader or a microbe gobbling up supper, cells often take in large items by bending their own membrane around them and folding it inwards, like poking in a finger on a glove. This seemingly mundane process involves around 50 different molecules, and <a title=\"Kaksonen Lab | EMBL\" href=\"http:\/\/www.embl.de\/research\/units\/cbb\/kaksonen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marko Kaksonen\u2019s lab<\/a> at EMBL Heidelberg is set on untangling just how they do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image wp-image-3517 size-full\"><figure class=\"vf-figure  | vf-figure--align vf-figure--align-centered \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" class=\"vf-figure__image\" src=\"http:\/\/news.embl.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/1502_endocytosis_2.gif\" alt=\"1502_endocytosis_2\" class=\"wp-image-3517\"\/><figcaption class=\"vf-figure__caption\">The scientists were able to reconstruct when and where each cellular machine acts as the membrane bends inwards to &#8216;swallow&#8217; material from outside the cell. IMAGE: EMBL\/A.PICCO.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s actually not a cartoon, it\u2019s a reconstruction,\u201d says Andrea Picco of the animation above. \u201cWe know the number of molecules, and we know where the centre of mass of the structure they form is. With our approach we can measure and track the movement of those molecules in relation to each other, and we can map that onto the shape of the membrane at each point in time, to really reconstruct how things unfold.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To carry out this reconstruction, Picco, a <a title=\"EMBL Interdisciplinary Postdocs Initiative\" href=\"http:\/\/www.embl.de\/training\/postdocs\/08-eipod\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">postdoc in the Kaksonen and N\u00e9d\u00e9lec labs<\/a>, combined the best of three worlds. He developed a method which enabled him to track the average positions of the different molecules using conventional light microscopy \u2013 \u201celectron microscopy can\u2019t follow movement, and super-resolution microscopy is still too slow for this,\u201d says Kaksonen. Picco then plotted those molecular paths onto a map of the cell: detailed information on the changes in the shape of the cell membrane as it folds inwards, obtained by electron microscopy. To delve beyond this map of light trails to a more detailed understanding of individual molecules\u2019 structure, Picco teamed up with Markus Mund from <a title=\"Ries lab | EMBL\" href=\"http:\/\/www.embl.de\/research\/units\/cbb\/ries\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jonas Ries\u2019 lab<\/a>, which specialises in super-resolution microscopy. Thanks to this added degree of precision, the scientists discovered, for instance, that a protein called Sla1 (the purple circles in the animation) forms a ring around the tip of the membrane \u2018finger\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To the expert eye, this animation also reveals the answer to a puzzle: which direction do actin filaments (the red rod-like elements in the animation) grow in? This has been a debated topic, with different scientists putting forth different possibilities. But by letting the actin network form, then turning off the fluorescent tags on it, and watching where new tags come back on, Picco and Kaksonen were able to show that new actin molecules are added at the base, and the filaments all grow inwards \u2013 likely pulling the membrane with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re beginning to go beyond just a description of the structure, to get to the actual function,\u201d says Kaksonen. His lab now plans to go further in that direction, by tampering with the different machines and analysing how the whole membrane-bending process is affected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Combining three different kinds of microscopy to determine how molecules move during endocytosis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3525,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17591],"tags":[64,43,49,69,79,57],"embl_taxonomy":[],"class_list":["post-3516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","category-science-technology","tag-cell-biology","tag-heidelberg","tag-interdisciplinary","tag-methods","tag-microscopy","tag-postdoc"],"acf":{"article_intro":"<p>By combining three different kinds of microscopy, scientists at EMBL Heidelberg have been able to determine, for the first time, how cellular machines move in relation to each other as the cell\u2019s membrane bends inwards to form a vesicle that carries material into the cell.<\/p>\n","related_links":[{"link_description":"Previous modeling of bending cell membrane by Kaksonen and Briggs labs","link_url":"http:\/\/www.embl.de\/aboutus\/communication_outreach\/media_relations\/2012\/120803_Heidelberg\/index.html"},{"link_description":"EMBL Interdisciplinary Postdoc Initiative","link_url":"http:\/\/www.embl.de\/training\/postdocs\/08-eipod"}],"article_sources":[{"source_description":"<p>Picco\u00a0<em>et al. eLife<\/em>, 12 February 2015. DOI:\u00a010.7554\/eLife.04535<\/p>\n","source_link_url":"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.7554\/eLife.04535"}],"vf_locked":false,"featured":false,"color":"#007B53"},"embl_taxonomy_terms":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Best of three worlds | EMBL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Combining three different kinds of microscopy to determine how molecules move during endocytosis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1502_endocytosis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Best of three worlds | EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Combining three different kinds of microscopy to determine how molecules move during endocytosis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1502_endocytosis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-03-04T12:55:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-11-29T15:54:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/1502_endocytosis_2ib.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"425\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sonia Furtado Neves\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Aur_ora\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@embl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sonia Furtado Neves\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1502_endocytosis\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1502_endocytosis\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sonia Furtado Neves\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d926199a955624b44dda296f396c5e68\"},\"headline\":\"Best of three worlds\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-03-04T12:55:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-29T15:54:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1502_endocytosis\/\"},\"wordCount\":469,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1502_endocytosis\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/1502_endocytosis_2ib.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"cell biology\",\"heidelberg\",\"interdisciplinary\",\"methods\",\"microscopy\",\"postdoc\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Science\",\"Science &amp; Technology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1502_endocytosis\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1502_endocytosis\/\",\"name\":\"Best of three worlds | EMBL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1502_endocytosis\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1502_endocytosis\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/1502_endocytosis_2ib.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-03-04T12:55:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-29T15:54:29+00:00\",\"description\":\"Combining three different kinds of microscopy to determine how molecules move during endocytosis\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1502_endocytosis\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1502_endocytosis\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/1502_endocytosis_2ib.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/1502_endocytosis_2ib.jpg\",\"width\":620,\"height\":425,\"caption\":\"Where and when are different molecules contributing to the bending of the membrane? 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