Franck PEREZ – UMR 144, « Dynamics of Intra-cellular organization », Institut Curie, Paris, France

To regulate their homeostasis – to exchange signals with the extracellular environment or migrate for example – cells need to address particular proteins and lipids toward specific compartments in a tightly controlled way. Golgi-dependent trafficking plays an essential role in these processes but, although our knowledge about the mechanisms of intra-Golgi transport and sorting has dramatically increased over the past two decades, the underlying complexity of transport routes, in term of mechanism and dynamics, is only starting to emerge.

Using our synchronized secretory system, the RUSH assay, we monitored transport of cargos to the cell surface and observed that preferred tracks exist in cells that drive protein transport to exocytosis hotspots. We also used the RUSH system to explore cell-to-cell signalling analysing the transport of GPI-anchored ephrins. Last, we are translating the RUSH assay to the study and treatment of human diseases. We used it for High Content Screening to identify potential therapeutic molecules and are now applying it to cellular immunotherapy approaches.