Prof. Max Prigozhin , Harvard University

March 7, 2024 | 12pm – 1pm | Maxwell-Dworkin 119

Abstract: Optical and electron microscopy are indispensable tools for nanoscale imaging of proteins and cell membranes. In principle, it should be possible to use the electron beam both for ultrastructural imaging using electron scattering and for protein localization by directly exciting suitable protein tags and detecting their luminescence – a process termed cathodoluminescence (CL). I will discuss our efforts on developing new imaging strategies to achieve reliable multicolor detection of single ~10 nm cathodoluminescent lanthanide nanocrystals (cathodophores). These nanocrystals are promising candidates for protein labeling in multicolor electron microscopy. In the future, cathodophores can be used to understand the fascinating cell biology of membrane-associated protein structures that drive many cellular processes.

About Speaker: Max Prigozhin is an Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology and of Applied Physics, Harvard University.  His lab is involved in collaborative and interdisciplinary work in single-cell and single-molecule biophysics of transmembrane signaling. They are particularly interested in cryo-vitrification, all kinds of electron and optical microscopy, and G-protein-coupled receptors. They are developing new biophysical methods to investigate the nanoscale cellular organization of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) and neural signaling. The two technical directions that they are currently working on are Multicolor electron microscopy and Time-resolved cryo-vitrification.