School of Biomedical Sciences cordially invites you to join the following seminar:

Speaker: Dr. Khanh Huy Bui, Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, McGill University
Talk Title: Integrative structural biology of cilia at multiscale resolution by cryo-electron microscopy

Date: 22 September 2025 (Monday)
Time: 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre 2, G/F, William M.W. Mong Block, 21 Sassoon Road 
Host: Professor Mu He

Biography

Huy Bui is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at McGill University in Canada. His lab focuses on structural cell biology approaches to bridge cell biology and structural biology. In particular, his lab uses cryo-electron microscopy and cryo-electron tomography to understand cilia and centriole structures and functions.

Huy Bui did his Ph.D. in the lab of Dr. Ishikawa at ETH Zurich on cilia structure. Afterward, he joined the lab of Dr. Martin Beck at EMBL Heidelberg and revealed the organizing principle of the human nuclear pore complex scaffold. In 2015, he joined the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at McGill University, Canada as an assistant professor. He is fascinated by developing new EM methods to understand the structure and function of complex macromolecules, in particular, the structure of eukaryotic cilia.

Abstract

Cilia are ubiquitous eukaryotic organelles essential for motility and sensory functions. In humans, they move mucus in the airways, propel sperm, and circulate cerebrospinal fluid in the brain. The ciliary axoneme consists of nine outer doublet and two central singlet microtubules. Determining its molecular architecture is crucial to understanding how cilia are assembled and how they function. Using cryo-EM, cryo-electron tomography, structure prediction, in situ cross-linking mass spectrometry, and proximity proteomics, we investigate cilia at different resolution levels. Our lab has mapped and modelled numerous proteins, from luminal components to mechanoregulatory complexes and ciliary tip proteins. These data illuminate how ciliary proteins contribute to assembly and motility and have uncovered novel microtubule-binding motifs important for stability. Ultimately, this work enhances our understanding of cilia-related human diseases and could facilitate future diagnostic tools.

ALL ARE WELCOME.