Annual Meeting

These walls are worth the cost

Biochemistry of lipids and membranes: 2020 annual meeting track
Teresa Dunn–Giroux Steve Claypool
By Teresa Dunn–Giroux and Steve Claypool
Sept. 1, 2019

Are you the type of person who feels comforted by being within the walls of your living space? Similar to us in our homes, cells are separated from each other by lipid membranes that also encapsulate the various collection of organelles therein. However, lipid membranes are much more than simple barriers. Different membrane-bound structures have distinct lipid compositions that confer identity, are dynamic and adaptable, communicate extensively with one another through physical contact sites, and provide an energy-rich storage depot available when times are rough. Further, like the doors and windows in your house, membrane proteins provide a means by which the two sides demarcated by a lipid bilayer can communicate.

An exciting emerging principle is that specific lipids are required for the activity of many membrane proteins. The goal of this track is to showcase the multitude of hats worn by lipids in both health and disease.

Keywords: lipids, membrane dynamics, homeostatic mechanisms, lipid metabolism, membrane proteins.

Who should attend: anyone who feels underappreciated, because that is exactly how lipids and their researchers have felt for decades; people unafraid of grease — and those who are, too.

Theme song: “Insane in the Membrane” by Cypress Hill.

This track is powered by Vaseline.

Talks

  • Lipid droplet proteome dynamics and lipotoxicity — James Olzmann, University of California, Berkeley
  • Mechanistic approaches towards understanding physicochemical membrane homeostasis in the endoplasmic reticulum — Robert Ernst, Saarland University
  • The role of VPS13 and related proteins in glycerolipid transport at membrane contact sites — Karin Reinisch, Yale University School of Medicine
  • Cold-induced lipid dynamics in thermogenic fat — Yu-Hua Tseng, Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School
  • Membrane proteins — the lipid connection — Carol Robinson, University of Oxford
  • Structural basis of lipid scrambling and ion conduction by TMEM16 scramblases — Alessio Accardi, Weill Cornell Medical College
  • Structural insights into TRPV channel gating — Vera Moiseenkova-Bell, University of Pennsylvania
  • Cardiolipin-dependent carriers — Steven Claypool, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
  • Seipin in lipid mobilization and lipodystrophy — Weiqin Chen, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University
  • The role of organelle contact during Chlamydia developmental cycle — Isabelle Derré, University of Virginia
  • Cardiolipin exerts tissue-specific control over systemic energy homeostasis — Zachary Gerhart-Hines, University of Copenhagen
  • SPTLC1 mutations associated with early onset amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — Teresa Dunn, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

Enjoy reading ASBMB Today?

Become a member to receive the print edition four times a year and the digital edition monthly.

Learn more
Teresa Dunn–Giroux
Teresa Dunn–Giroux

is professor and chair of the department of biochemistry and molecular biology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

Steve Claypool
Steve Claypool

is an associate professor in the department of physiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Featured jobs

from the ASBMB career center

Get the latest from ASBMB Today

Enter your email address, and we’ll send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.

Latest in Careers

Careers highlights or most popular articles

Engineering the future with synthetic biology
ASBMB Annual Meeting

Engineering the future with synthetic biology

March 31, 2025

Learn about the ASBMB 2025 symposium on synthetic biology, featuring applications to better human and environmental health.

Host vs. pathogen and the molecular arms race
ASBMB Annual Meeting

Host vs. pathogen and the molecular arms race

March 28, 2025

Learn about the ASBMB 2025 symposium on host–pathogen interactions, to be held Sunday, April 13 at 1:50 p.m.

Richard Silverman to speak at ASBMB 2025
ASBMB Annual Meeting

Richard Silverman to speak at ASBMB 2025

March 27, 2025

Richard Silverman and Melissa Moore are the featured speakers at the ASBMB annual meeting to be held April 12-15 in Chicago.

Women’s History Month: Educating and inspiring generations
Observance

Women’s History Month: Educating and inspiring generations

March 27, 2025

Through early classroom experiences, undergraduate education and advanced research training, women leaders are shaping a more inclusive and supportive scientific community.

Upcoming opportunities
Announcement

Upcoming opportunities

March 26, 2025

Register for the May 14 ASBMB Breakthroughs webinar on biosynthesis and regulation of plant phenolic compounds.

Upcoming opportunities
Announcement

Upcoming opportunities

March 19, 2025

Save the date for ASBMB's virtual meeting on nucleophilic proteases. Reminder: Get your ticket for #ASBMB25's closing reception at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry before it sells out!