Mechanisms of Organelle Remodeling for Cellular Function

To function, organisms rely on vital organs which, in turn, rely on specialized cells. At the subcellular scale, cell specialization is notably driven by robust mechanisms of organelle remodeling. Thus, discovering these mechanisms is key for the fundamental understanding of organisms in health and disease, as well as for improved organ engineering. In this seminar, I will discuss my research on organelle remodeling in somatic and female germ cells. I will first show how multiciliated cells - critical for nervous, respiratory and reproductive organs - repurpose conserved mechanisms of cell division to remodel organelles for motile ciliogenesis. I will then talk about how oocytes deploy a biophysical mechanism, based on cytoplasmic force tuning, to mechanically remodel nuclear RNA-processing organelles for reproductive success. I will conclude with some future research plans, blending my past and present interests into an interdisciplinary project that will venture into unexplored grounds of nuclear organelle mechano-regulation in somatic cells to deepen our understanding of organ development and homeostasis.

Key relevant publications :
 
Al Jord, A. et al. Centriole amplification by mother and daughter centrioles differs in multiciliated cells. Nature 516, 104–107 (2014).
 
Al Jord, A. et al. Calibrated mitotic oscillator drives motile ciliogenesis. Science 358, 803–806 (2017).
 
Al Jord, A. et al. Cytoplasmic forces functionally reorganize nuclear condensates in oocytes. Nat. Commun. 13:5070, 1–19 (2022).