Meng-meng Fu
@Meng2Fu
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AssistProf @berkeleyMCB Myelin, microtubules, Golgi outposts, RNA transport. Prev: PI @NIH, Barres Lab @Stanford, Holzbaur Lab @Penn, UG @Caltech. Personal acct
Berkeley, CA
Joined September 2018
Happy 4th of July - here are some cellular fireworks! This oligodendrocyte is actively growing its microtubules. It's expressing fluorescent EB3, a protein that binds to the plus ends of microtubules and shows that most microtubules have directed growth away from the cell body.
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So this preprint opens up many new questions in astrocyte cell biology! This was a real team effort: - Postdoc Will Barclay started the project at the NIH - Postbac Johanna Bergstrom and undergrad Eva Lopez analyzed data - PhD student Lana Ho contributed imaging data
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Many distal ends are enriched in GFAP. We don't know what this means yet - maybe these can become endfeet that contact blood vessels. Astrocyte processes are heterogeneous in vivo (some contact blood vessels, others contact synapses) - like axons vs. dendrites in neurons. 7/x
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By cryo-ET, we could see a lot of intermediate filaments (IFs). The ratio of IFs:microtubules was very high ~7:1. Image below shows: IFs (blue), microtubules (green), actin (yellow). 6/x
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Microtubules in primary processes are highly stable as indicated by: - Acetylation - Detyrosination - MIPs (microtubule inner proteins) - IF content 5/x
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We used live-cell imaging with plus-end binding protein EB3 to determine microtubule polarity in astrocytes for the first time. They are ~88% plus-ends out. 3/x
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We isolated astrocytes using the immunopanning method. Most images are from cells grown in serum-free media for ~2 weeks... they make beautiful processes! Microtubules & GFAP dominate in thick long primary processes. And we see a novel actin structure - reticular webbing! 2/x
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Excited to share our preprint on cytoskeletal organization in astrocytes! https://t.co/u3DvsTTn5N Postdoc @mewynne759 looked at microtubules, IFs/GFAP & actin along long elaborate processes. Wonderful to collaborate w postdoc @dharshinigopal & @NogalesLab on cryo-ET 🤓 1/x
biorxiv.org
Astrocytes, the most abundant cells in the brain, extend elaborate branches that enable diverse functions, from synapse maintenance to blood-brain-barrier integrity. The cytoskeletal basis of this...
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You can support the next generation of myelin scientists by funding the Myelin Gordon Research Seminar: https://t.co/XtaQAwtQmq.
@ubhjkri @MS_Focus @mssociety @NeuroForuMS @SfNtweets @GlialInitiative
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Hard to quit this app because I need the cute animal videos! Any colleagues in Scotland seeing this and want to invite me to give a talk? ☺️
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🗓️ Mark your calendar! Join JCB special session at #CellBio2024 with an excellent panel of speakers: @s__ellis, @LabFriedman, @Meng2Fu, @BinyamMogessie, Andrew Muroyama, moderated by @oegemadesai_lab and @timisstuck! See more info 👉 https://t.co/79Ceo3PAFd
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Another issue here is the gap time between bachelors and starting a PhD. At 27, trainees could and should be finishing a 5-year PhD and moving forward in their careers. PhD programs need to normalize accepting students straight out of undergrad.
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Flashback to 2016… the scariest pumpkin of all - the Trumpkin! Please vote, especially if you live in a swing state!
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When your husband sends you this post with no comment… #NewProfiIePic 😆 taken earlier this month after a haircut! Now let’s see if he updates his profile pic that’s about 8 yrs old!
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Excited to visit Martine Cohen-Salmon’s lab in Paris! Giving a talk today then learning to isolate astrocyte endfeet next week. Friends in the area - please reach out if you want meet up 🤓
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When I was a new PI at the NIH, I tried to go to my lab on the weekend. With my NIH faculty parking permit and ID badge, I should have been waved in… but I had to go through a metal detector, get patted down, show state ID and US passport, and my Prius was searched for bombs 😞
Usually I don’t talk about stuff like this because frankly it happens way too often. But not today… As I pulled into the same faculty parking lot that I park in all the time @msstate, a white woman was coming out of my office building. Her car was parked next to the space I
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The Li Lab is launching on January 1, 2025 and is currently recruiting at all levels! Our research will utilize transparent zebrafish larvae, ideal for in vivo imaging, to study neuron-oligodendrocyte interactions. For more information, please visit: https://t.co/IKu4oh3UGL
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We’re hiring in my Division of @BerkeleyMCB! Come join a fantastic group of immunologists in a larger community of basic scientists in the department https://t.co/Z0ysrFoqRM
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What I tell my trainees, “If science is a race, you had to run farther and faster to get here. Logic dictates that you’ll continue to run faster, but the farther you go, the more hurdles appear in your lane than in other lanes. Is it fair to remove some of those hurdles?”
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