Speaker:
Prof. Qiangjun Zhou, Vanderbilt University.
Tittle: Seeing Cellular Architecture in Action: From Synaptic Nanostructures to Bacterial Ferrosomes
Time: 14:00 August 17th, 2026 (Monday)
Venue: Conference Room on 8th Floor, Building No.4
Host: Prof. Yuhe Yang
Abstract:
How are molecules organized to build functional cellular structures? Cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) provides a unique opportunity to visualize cellular architecture in three dimensions and in near-native states. I will briefly discuss our cryo-ET studies of neuronal synapses, focusing on the nanoscale organization of the postsynaptic density and our ongoing studies of human induced neurons. I will then present our discovery and structural characterization of bacterial ferrosomes, specialized organelles involved in iron storage, followed by our recent work revealing how external forces drive inward membrane remodeling during ferrosome formation. Together, these studies illustrate how molecular organization and physical forces shape cellular architecture and function.
Info.:
Dr. Qiangjun Zhou is a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at Vanderbilt University and a Principal Investigator at the Vanderbilt Brain Institute and the Center for Structural Biology. His lab investigates the molecular and cellular mechanisms of membrane remodeling in both neuronal and bacterial systems.
He earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences with Professor Fei Sun, and conducted postdoctoral research at Stanford University with Professors Axel Brunger and Thomas Südhof, two pioneers in synaptic transmission and structural biology. During his postdoc, Dr. Zhou was awarded the prestigious NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award.
Since joining Vanderbilt in 2020, he has received the "Neurodegenerative" TIPS Initiative Award and NIH R01 grants (NIMH, NIGMS). His research spans three key areas: (1) synaptic function at the molecular level (JCB 2025; Structure 2026), (2) bacterial organelle and membrane dynamics (Nature 2023), and (3) development of cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) and fluorescence imaging for in situ cellular imaging using dual-modal (light and electron) microscopy (Nature Communications, under revision; Communications Biology, under revision).
