Cosy Science presents: Origins of the cell nucleus-the mothership of our genome

The cell nucleus is the 'mothership' that encloses, tethers, protects and supports the human genome. How did this complex, elegant and dynamic architecture evolve? We will 'paint a picture' of nuclear structure, and talk about how a few simple proteins set our single-celled ancestors on an amazing evolutionary journey.

Katherine L. Wilson studied microbiology in Seattle (BS, University of Washington), biochemistry and genetics in San Francisco (PhD, UCSF) and cell biology in San Diego (UCSD) before joining the faculty at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, where she is Professor of Cell Biology. She and her colleagues study the proteins (lamin filaments, LEM-domain proteins and their enigmatic partner, BAF) that form nuclear 'lamina' structure, and seek to understand how mutations in these proteins cause diseases such as muscular dystrophy, cardiomyopathy, lipodystrophy/metabolic syndrome or progeria ('accelerated aging').

Michael Rout received his Ph.D. from the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology at the University of Cambridge, working with J.V. Kilmartin. He joined the Rockefeller as a postdoctoral fellow with Günter Blobel. He continued as an independent investigator at the Rockefeller, where he is now Professor of the Laboratory of Cellular and Structural Biology. He and his colleagues study the structure and evolution of nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) and their interactions and reactions with soluble nuclear transport factors, to understand how NPCs contribute to nuclear function.