Using light and electron microscopy to understand the relationship between membrane shape transformation and cellular communication through signaling.

We are interested in the universal process of membrane remodeling, when subdomains of the membrane are reshaped into functional structures that allow cells to take up material, sense and communicate with the environment. We are particularly interested in understanding how membrane ultrastructure is established during muscle differentiation and homeostasis. To this end we study membrane remodeling in cell culture and in the small, transparent, and rapidly developing nematode Caenorhabditis elegans using a combination of advanced imaging techniques that include total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRF-M), confocal microscopy and correlated light and electron microscopy (CLEM).