07/14/06

Distinguished Alumni Lecture

"Microscopes and Motility: Systems Integration in Directed Cell Migration"

Clare M. Waterman-Storer, The Scripps Research Institute


Lecture Abstract:
The ability of vertebrate cells to directionally move is critical to development, the immune response and wound healing, and its regulation is compromised in, for example, metastatic cancer and vascular disease. Tissue cells move across an extracellular matrix by a repeating cycle of protrusion of the cell edge in the direction of migration, adhesion of the protrusion to the extracellular matrix, pulling against the adhesion sites for translocation of the cell body, and dissolution of older adhesion sites at the trailing edge of the cell to allow rear edge retraction. This necessitates complex dynamic mechanical interactions between the cell and its extracellular environment that must be coordinated in space and time by physical and biochemical signals. Mechanical cell outputs are mediated in large part by the cytoskeletal polymer systems, actin and microtubules, but also likely involve contributions from other organelle systems in the cell. My lab uses quantitative microscopy of protein dynamics in living cells and in vitro biochemistry to understand how seemingly distinct subcellular systems are integrated with one another to promote the polarized morphogenic activities that drive directed cell movement. I aim to answer questions such as how the microtubule and actin cytoskeletons interact to polarize a motile cell, how the actin cytoskeleton builds specific machines for distinct functions in cell migration, how the dynamics of the endomembrane trafficking systems promote leading edge protrusion, or how the acto-myosin contractile system interfaces with the extracellular matrix via focal adhesions to generate traction force that drives cell movement. To aid our studies of molecular dynamics in subcellular systems, we pioneered a method called Fluorescent Speckle Microscopy (FSM), which allows quantitative analysis of the dynamics of and interactions between proteins within subcellular systems such as the cytoskeleton and focal adhesions in living cells. In this lecture, I will elaborate on the two main foci of the lab, our work on microtubule/actin interactions in cell migration, and our biologically-driven technology development. Finally, I will discuss how our novel technologies have fueled exciting new biological discoveries that are leading us in new directions in the future.


Clare Waterman-Storer is a tenured associate professor of cell biology and a faculty member in the Kellogg School of Science and Technology at The Scripps Research Institute. Since 2004, she has been a faculty member in the MBL’s Physiology course. Dr. Waterman-Storer received a B.A. in biochemistry at Mount Holyoke College in 1989, an M.S. in exercise science from the University of Massachusetts, and a Ph.D. in cell biology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1995. She is an alumna of the MBL’s 1993 Physiology course. Dr. Waterman-Storer completed her postdoctoral training in biology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, under Ted Salmon. She joined the faculty of The Scripps Research Institute as an assistant professor in 1999. She is currently an Established Investigator of the American Heart Association. In 2005, Dr. Waterman-Storer received the Director’s Pioneer award from the National Institutes of Health, followed in 2006 by the R.R. Bensley Award in Cell Biology from the American Association of Anatomists and naming to Who’s Who in Science and Engineering. She is a member of several professional societies, including the Biophysical Society, the Royal Microscopical Society, and the American Society for Cell Biology. She serves on the Editorial Board of Current Biology.


Gary Borisy will introduce Dr. Waterman-Storer.  Dr. Borisy was recently appointed the MBL's 13th director and 3rd CEO. Dr. Borisy came to the MBL from Northwestern University where he was Associate Vice President for Research and the Leslie B. Arey Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology in the Feinberg School of Medicine. He received his B.S. in biochemistry and his Ph.D. in biophysics from the University of Chicago. After serving a postdoctoral fellowship in H. E. Huxley's Laboratory of Molecular Biology at the MRC in Cambridge, England, he joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He spent 32 years at Madison, rising through the professional ranks to Chairman of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Perlman-Bascom Professor of Life Sciences, before moving to Northwestern in 2000. Dr. Borisy has received numerous professional honors throughout his career, including an NIH MERIT Award. He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; served as president of the American Society for Cell Biology (2003); and received the Carl Zeiss Award in 2005 from the German Society for Cell Biology. He currently serves as a Section Head for Faculty of 1000, Cell Biology; is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for CombinatoRx, and is an incoming member of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (2006).


MBL Distinguished Alumni Friday Evening Lecture

MBL Alumni are often leaders in their fields and hold positions at every major research institution in the world. We are proud their contributions to science and grateful for the enrichment they bring to the MBL by referring students to our courses, returning as faculty or investigators themselves, serving on volunteer boards, and giving their financial support.

In recognition of the vital role MBL alumni play in the life sciences and in our institution, we are pleased to present the Distinguished Alumni Friday Evening Lecture.