Functional roles of phase separation at the plasma membrane

Research in the Veatch lab over the last decade has used conventional and super-resolution fluorescence localization microscopy to interrogate the structure and function of phase-related heterogeneity in plasma membranes. This presentation will highlight recent advances from the lab, including our work to demonstrate that membrane phase separation contributes to the organization, dynamics, and signaling activity of proteins at B cell receptor clusters. I will also discuss our recent theoretical work examining emergent properties of polymer rich droplets at heterogeneous membranes, making predictions for how liquid-liquid phase separation in the cytoplasm couples to the distinct phase transition at the plasma membrane.