In this episode, Dr. Luca Pellegrini is interviewed by Olivia Hillier, with narration by Andrew Cao, from the University of Ottawa. Dr. Pellegrini is a new professor in the department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology and is an expert on mitochondria and inter-organelle contacts. He joins us to discuss his team’s most recent paper, published in Cell Reports (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2021.108873). This publication describes his team’s discovery of the “wrappER”, a microscopic superhero in your body that plays a vital role in keeping you in top shape. Dr. Pellegrini takes us through the history of inter-organelle contacts research, the intriguing results detailed in his paper, and the broader implications of his findings to human health.
Learn more: https://www.pellegrinilab.com/
0:27 | Podcast team introduction
0:42 | Meet the wrappER, the cloak that safeguards your metabolic health.
2:02 | Meet Dr. Luca Pellegrini, the founder of the wrappER.
3:00 | How did Dr. Pellegrini come to study the wrappER?
3:46 | Why does Dr. Pellegrini like history so much?
4:41 | When did researchers start to consider how contacts between organelles may be important?
5:58 | Diseases related to defects in inter-organelle contacts.
6:48 | What you need to know about Anastasia et al., 2021: the paper that discovered and defined the wrappER.
8:12 | The wrappeR's structure is like a burrito.
8:43 | Are all mitochondria wrapped by the wrappER?
9:01 | The wrappER is not limited to liver cells.
9:38 | What else can the wrappER wrap?
10:12 | Dynamics of the wrappER and mitochondria.
11:32 | How long did it take to make these discoveries of the wrappER?
11:44 | The team behind the discovery.
12:40 | What the wrappER can teach us about how our bodies regulate fat.
13:18 | The wrappER and treatments for fat-related diseases and disorders.
13:55 | Dr. Pellegrini's plans as a new profressor and principal investigator at the University of Ottawa.
14:22 | Wrapping up: thank you to Dr. Pellegrini
Podcast by Andrew Cao (Narrator and Post-Production), Olivia Hillier (Interviewer), Olivia Sommers (Producer), & Anna Wang (Writer-Editor).
Music:
“The Launch” by Chronox (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Chronox_2/)
This song can be found on the Free Music Archive (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Chronox/Voyager/Chronox_-_01_-_The_Launch/)
“Nocturnal (BGM)” by LEMMiNO (https://www.lemmi.no/)
“Thannoid” by Blue Dot Sessions (https://www.sessions.blue/)
“Are We Loose Yet” by Blue Dot Sessions (https://www.sessions.blue/)
“Here” by Hyson (https://iamhyson.bandcamp.com/)