OSE Seminar by Dr. Diane Lidke, on Dissecting signal transduction, one molecule at a time: single molecule imaging for cell biology

Departmental News

Dr. Luke Emmert

Posted: September 1, 2026

Date: Thursday, September 3, 2026

Time:  12:45 PM to 1:45 PM

Location: PAIS Room 2540 and Zoom

Join Zoom Meeting : 

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85675958742?pwd=bZQjHLhnWICwHwQyl8KOAqimfevd1S.1
Meeting ID: 856 7595 8742
Passcode: 638912

 

Speaker: 
Dr. Diane Lidke, Professor, Department of Pathology
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM

Abstract:

The diffraction limit has long constrained our ability to resolve biological structures at the nanoscale, but complementary fluorescence-based approaches, including super-resolution imaging, single-particle tracking, and FRET, are pushing fluorescence microscopy beyond this classical boundary. Together, these nanoscale imaging methods are redefining the fluorescence microscope as a fluorescence "nanoscope," providing quantitative access to cellular processes that was previously impossible. This seminar will focus on how we use these methods to study how cells make decisions at the molecular level. Specifically, we address the biophysical problem of signal transduction: how do nanoscale protein-protein interactions at the membrane give rise to specific cellular responses? We will discuss the optical and analytical frameworks we use to extract quantitative information, including diffusion coefficients, oligomeric states, and spatial organization. Biological applications will include the spatial organization of immunoreceptor complexes and the clustering behavior of receptor tyrosine kinases implicated in oncogenic signaling.

Biography:

Diane Lidke earned her B.S. in Physics from Nebraska Wesleyan University before completing her Ph.D. in Biophysical Sciences and Medical Physics at the University of Minnesota. She then trained as a postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, Germany, where she specialized in the application of fluorescence microscopy techniques to the study of cell signaling. She joined the University of New Mexico in 2005 and is now Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Pathology, where she holds the Victor and Ruby Hansen Surface Endowed Professorship in Cancer Cell Signal Transduction and Cellular Imaging. She also serves as Scientific Director of UNM's Advanced Light Microscopy Shared Resource and co-Leads the Cellular and Molecular Oncology Program at the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her lab is known for using quantitative fluorescence and single-molecule imaging to understand how receptors organize and signal at the cell membrane, with an emphasis on immunoreceptors and receptor tyrosine kinases