Li Yu,Ph.D

Professor, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University

Time:9:00am-11:00am, 30th May, 2019

Venue:Room 305, Mingde Building

Abstract:

Cells communicate with each other through secreting and releasing proteins and vesicles. Many cells can migrate. In this study, we report the discovery of migracytosis, a cell migration-dependent mechanism for releasing cellular contents, and migrasomes, the vesicular structures that mediate migracytosis. As migrating cells move, they leave long tubular strands, called retraction fibers, behind them. Large vesicles, which contain numerous smaller vesicles, grow  on  the tips  and  intersections  of  retraction  fibers. These fibers,  which  connect  the vesicles  with  the main  cell body, eventually break, and the vesicles are released into the extracellular space or directly taken up by surrounding cells. Since the formation of these vesicles is migration-dependent, we named them “migrasomes”. We also found that cytosolic contents can be transported into migrasomes and released from the cell through migrasomes. We named this migration-dependent release mechanism “migracytosis”. In this seminar, I will discuss our recent progress on migrasome and migracytosis.