Dr. Alice Dimitra Cezanne

I am a biochemist with an interest in protein-lipid interactions and how membrane properties shape and regulate cellular processes. My work is primarily focussed on studying membrane dynamics and remodelling in Sulfolobus acidocaldarius. Archaeal lipids are structurally distinct from bacterial and eukaryotic types and arrange themselves into very different membrane architectures such as mixtures of monolayer and bilayer membrane. Cell division in S. acidocaldarius is driven by homologues of themembrane remodelling ESCRTIII complex which drives abscission in eukaryotes. By investigating how this conserved protein machinery can act on two very different lipid architectures we hope to gain an understanding of fundamental principles of cell division, as well as shed some light on the evolution of the comparatively more complex membrane landscape in eukaryotes.