We invite you to join us for our internal Converging on Cancer online seminar on Thursday 5th June, from 3-4 PM (GMT).

 

The CRUK Convergence Science Centre is a partnership between Imperial College London and The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR). We aim to bring together researchers from different disciplines across both institutions to develop innovative ways to address challenges in cancer research to benefit patients. 

 

The Centre's Converging on Cancer seminar series brings together speakers from Imperial and ICR to present their research and how they use convergence science to answer cancer-related questions. This is a special joint session, organised in partnership with the ICR's Division of Structural Biology. 

 

 

This event will be chaired by Prof Axel Behrens, Scientific Director of the CRUK Convergence Science Centre . 

 

Prof Doryen Bubeck (Imperial)

Title: Controlling the complement membrane attack complex

The membrane attack complex (MAC) is a large macromolecular immune pore that punches holes in target cells. While a potent weapon of the innate immune defense, MAC pores can also damage human cells if not properly controlled. Here we use cryoEM to understand the molecular basis for how MAC pore formation is controlled in human cells during an immune response. By solving the structure of a soluble regulated form of MAC called sMAC, we explain how blood-based chaperones scavenge and clear potentially harmful complement activation by-products. Most recently we have created a membrane model system with a synthetic GPI-anchored cellular receptor (CD59) that inhibits MAC. Using cryoEM, we show how CD59 captures and deflects pore-forming beta-hairpins of complement proteins, rerouting their membrane trajectory. Moreover, we have discovered how the membrane environment influences the role of CD59 in complement regulation and in host-pathogen interactions. Our results open new lines of investigation into the importance of lipids in immune homeostasis that may be relevant for therapies that regulate complement.

Dr Claudio Alfieri (ICR) 

Title: Cryo-EM structure of the DREAM complex associated retinoblastoma-like proteins and their interactions with the cell cycle core machinery.

In my lab we investigate MuvB complexes which are transcriptional switches defining the gene expression of cell cycle genes in a temporally regulated fashion. During a cell cycle arrest in quiescence or upon DNA damage checkpoint activation MuvB interacts with retinoblastoma-like proteins thereby forming the DREAM complex which is a strong repressor of cell cycle genes expression. The mechanisms of gene regulation and cell cycle regulation exerted by the DREAM complex are still poorly understood. I will present two cryo-EM structures (work from my postdoc Fuzhou Ye) that shed light on how retinoblastoma-like proteins directly regulate the cell cycle core machinery, which has important implications on our understating of how the cell cycle is regulated.

 

Who can attend?

Researchers, students and anyone with an interest in convergence science relating to cancer research across Imperial and ICR are welcome to register, please email icr-imperial-convergence.centre@imperial.ac.uk to receive the registration link.