In situ structural immunology: Protein structure determination from minimal systems towards whole cells

Imaging supports advances in Immunology and Inflammation research. The Euro-BioImaging User Forum “Focus on Immunology” will showcase cutting edge research in this domain from both a scientific and technical point of view. At this event, Thom Sharp, University of Bristol, will give a keynote talk explaining how he and his team are developing correlative cryo-fluorescence and cryo-super-resolution approaches to study how immune complexes interact with cells and tissues.

What: Euro-BioImaging User Forum “Focus on Immunology”

When: October 15, 2024, from 14:00-17:00 CEST

Where: Online

Abstract

In situ structural immunology: Protein structure determination from minimal systems towards whole cells

​​Thom Sharp, University of Bristol

In the classical pathway of complement activation, antigen-antibody immune complexes bind complement component C1, which initiates the proteolytic complement cascade that leads to clearance of the targeted cells. However, how antibodies activate C1 remains unclear. Thom Sharp and his team at University of Bristol apply multimodal imaging techniques to investigate the molecular steps in complement activation, through binding of antibodies and formation of oligomeric activatory platforms, and how C1 binds to these platforms. In this talk, he will discuss how they use 3D cryo-electron tomography and structural biology, combined with AI-based structure prediction, to solve the structures of various complement components. These structures reveal insights into various activation mechanisms. With this new structural knowledge, they are now developing techniques and potential therapeutics to control immune system activation. He will then reveal how they are developing correlative cryo-fluorescence and cryo-super-resolution techniques, which we will use to study how immune complexes interact with cells and tissues by applying in situ structural biology.