Bottanelli Group

Nanoscale regulation of molecular switches at the Golgi

The Bottanelli lab employs super-resolution imaging techniques to understand how sorting along the secretory pathway of mammalian cells is realized at the nanoscale level. Cell homeostasis, differentiation and development rely on the fidelity of these processes and despite significant advances in identifying the machinery and molecular mechanisms involved in cargo sorting in vitro, it is still unclear how sorting is spatio-temporally achieved in vivo. In particular, we use gene editing and stimulated emission depletion (STED) nanoscopy to understand how molecular switches (GTPases) dynamically regulate the recruitment of scaffolds and the formation of sorting nano-domains at the trans-Golgi network (TGN), one of the main cellular sorting station.

Prof. Dr. Francesca Bottanelli