Laboratory of Eukaryotic Cell Architecture (LECA)
Head of the laboratory: prof. Hassan Hashimi, Ph.D.
Our group is interested in how one organelle, the mitochondrion, has developed its characteristic architecture during its evolution. Currently, we focus on mitochondrial cristae, which give the organelle its characteristic ruffled appearance.
Eukaryotic cells are very complex compared to their prokaryotic cousins. Famously, the former possesses a plethora of sub-cellular compartments named organelles. Organelles embody the link between form and function that underlies life. Our group is interested in how one organelle, the mitochondrion, has developed its characteristic architecture during its evolution. Currently, we focus on mitochondrial cristae, which give the organelle its characteristic ruffled appearance. Cristae are not just simple invaginations of the mitochondria’s inner membrane. They are bioenergetic subcompartments that allow mitochondria to be the powerhouses of the cell. Cristae encapsulate the machinery needed for cellular respiration, the means a cell coverts nutrition into chemical energy the fuel life. Strangely, cristae appear to take on different forms in different organisms, appearing like sheets, paddles or tubes among other shapes. We want to understand how these different shapes arise and if these different shapes affect how mitochondria act as a powerhouse and/or perform other biological processes. Our research allows us to work with very cool protists such as trypanosomes and ciliates, as well as the occasional yeast and alphaproteobacteria. We genetically engineer these cells, observe them with light and electron microscopy, and assay their behaviour through biochemical methods.
