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Talk by Annemiek van Spriel

Title: "Tetraspanins: master organizers of the plasma membrane"
Occasion: SFB Seminar
Host: Jacob Piehler
Start: 04.05.2023 - 16:15
Location: CellNanOs 38/201

About the speaker: Annemiek van Spriel researches the topic of Experimental Immunology at the Medical Center of the Radboud University, Nijmegen.

Abstract of the talk: The plasma membrane of immune cells contains thousands of different proteins including receptors, enzymes and membrane-bound signalling molecules. A tight spatiotemporal organisation of these membrane proteins is essential for immune cell function including pathogen recognition, antigen presentation and migration. The superfamily of tetraspanin proteins plays a central role in organising membrane proteins and signalling molecules into specialized nanodomains, or the ‘tetraspanin network’.

There is prevailing evidence that tetraspanins control immune cell migration, proliferation and survival, however the underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. Whereas tetraspanin function was initially described to only serve as adaptors, we recently discovered that tetraspanins can directly interact with kinases and phosphatases in live cells. Our aim is to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying tetraspanin function in the plasma membrane of immune cells and their malignant counterparts. I will present our latest findings into the function of tetraspanins CD37 and CD53 in plasma membrane organization and controlling signal transduction pathways in B and T lymphocytes. We report that CD37 inhibits activation of the IL-6 signalling pathway at the cell surface of B cells. Our data demonstrates that tetraspanin nanodomains act as signalling hot spots in the plasma membrane, and tetraspanin-deficiency leads to impaired signalling and malignant transformation.