Guest Vision Research Seminar with Dr. Peter Calvert

Mechanisms of Photoreceptor Outer Segment Assembly 

Peter Calvert, PhD

John A. Hoepner, MD, Endowed Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
Center for Vision Research
SUNY Upstate Medical University

Time

December 6, 2023, 12:00-1:00 pm PST (Vancouver) / 3:00-4:00 pm EST (New York)

Biography 

Dr. Peter Calvert's laboratory studies the biochemical and biophysical mechanisms underlying the morphology and function of cells in the retina. They are especially interested in the mechanisms by which the ciliary outer segments of photoreceptors are elaborated and how mutations in the genes associated with the broad class of disorders known as the ciliopathies lead to devastating blinding diseases. To achieve their research goals, Dr. Calvert's lab has assembled several quantitative, live cell fluorescence microscopes including a multiphoton imaging apparatus that allows time-resolved 2 photon Förster resonance energy transfer (tr-2P-FRET) and time-resolved 2 photon fluorescence anisotropy imaging microscopy (tr-2P-FAIM) for the determination of molecular interactions, translational and rotational dynamics. They assembled a super-resolution 3D live-cell single particle tracking photoactivation-localization microscopy system (3D-sptPALM) that allows high density mapping of protein dynamics in living photoreceptors. They have developed analytical routines in MATLAB for quantifying protein dynamics, distributions and interactions between proteins and cell structures. Finally, Dr. Calvert's lab has developed quantitative mathematical models to understand if the basic biophysical properties of the cytoplasm, membranes and proteins that they directly measure in situ can explain the assembly and function of photoreceptors, and to highlight what we don’t yet understand.