PUFFFIN - Illuminating Cellular Neighbourhoods in Model Systems of Development

Date

Feb 4, 2025

Time

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Speaker

Tamina Lebek

Affiliation

Centre for Regenerative Medicine, Institute for Regeneration and Repair, University of Edinburgh, UK

Language

en

Main Topic

Biologie

Host

Meritxell Huch

Description

Understanding how cells influence their neighbours is crucial for deciphering processes like development, homeostasis, and disease. Recent advances have introduced fluorescent protein-based methods to identify cellular neighbourhoods. I will present Positive Ultra-bright Fluorescent Fusion For Identifying Neighbours (PUFFFIN), a new neighbour-labelling system based on the secretion and uptake of a super-positive fluorescent protein. PUFFFIN enables precise and rapid identification, isolation, and profiling of neighbouring cells, even capturing transient interactions. Its modular design allows colour-of-choice labelling and transgene integration, making it highly versatile. I will also demonstrate how we are using PUFFFIN to study coordination of differentiation in mouse embryonic stem cells. This powerful tool offers a simple, sensitive, and customisable approach for profiling cell-cell communication in diverse contexts, paving the way for new insights into cellular interactions.

Last modified: Feb 4, 2025, 7:37:47 AM