mandfred lindau headshot

Manfred Lindau

Emeritus
Applied and Engineering Physics

Biography

After receiving his doctorate from the Technical University of Berlin in 1983, Lindau was a postdoctoral associate at the Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen and at the Free University of Berlin, where he became an assistant professor in 1988. From 1992 through 1997 he was an associate member of the Max-Planck-Institute for Medical Research and taught biophysics at the University of Heidelberg. He joined the faculty at Cornell in 1997. He is active as a consultant in the areas of biophysics, physiology, and cell biology, and is a member of the Biophysical Society and the Society for Neuroscience.

Research Interests

The aim of our research is to achieve a mechanistic understanding of the molecular nanomachine that releases neurotransmitters, hormones and other compounds from secretory cells in the body. Several molecular components of this nanomachine have been identified as recognized in the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. However, we still don't understand how the machine works. We use biophysical, computational and molecular techniques to understand the molecular motions that open the gate, which releases the transmitter molecules stored in secretory vesicle inside the cell to the outside of the cell.

Selected Publications

  1. Rathore, S.S., M. Huang, Y. Zhao, Q. Fang, and M. Lindau. 2020. Electrochemical imaging of exocytotic fusion events using electrochemical detector arrays. In Compendium of In Vivo Monitoring in Real-Time Molecular Neuroscience. G.S. Wilson and A.C. Michael, editors. World Scientific Publishing Co, Singapore. 91-107. https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/9789811206238_0006
  2. Huang, M., S.S. Rathore, and M. Lindau. 2019. Drug testing complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor chip reveals drug modulation of transmitter release for potential therapeutic applications. J Neurochem. 151:38-49. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31274190
  3. Fang, Q., Y. Zhao, and M. Lindau. 2019. Precise Time Superresolution by Event Correlation Microscopy. Biophys. J. 116:1732-1747. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31027888
  4. Sharma, S., and M. Lindau. 2018. The fusion pore, 60 years after the first cartoon. FEBS Lett. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29904915
  5. Sharma, S., and M. Lindau. 2018. Molecular mechanism of fusion pore formation driven by the neuronal SNARE complex. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A. 115:12751-12756. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30482862
  6. Harris, M.C., D. Cislo, J.S. Lenz, C. Umbach, and M. Lindau. 2017. AFM/TIRF force clamp measurements of neurosecretory vesicle tethers reveal characteristic unfolding steps. PLoS One. 12:e0173993. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28323853
  7. Sharma, S., and M. Lindau. 2016. The mystery of the fusion pore. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 23:5-6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26733219
  8. Sharma, S., B.N. Kim, P.J. Stansfeld, M.S. Sansom, and M. Lindau. 2015. A Coarse Grained Model for a Lipid Membrane with Physiological Composition and Leaflet Asymmetry. PLoS One. 10:e0144814. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26659855
  9. Kim, B.N., A.D. Herbst, S.J. Kim, B.A. Minch, and M. Lindau. 2013. Parallel recording of neurotransmitters release from chromaffin cells using a 10x10 CMOS IC potentiostat array with on-chip working electrodes. Biosens Bioelectron. 41:736-44. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23084756
  10. Zhao, Y., Q. Fang, A.D. Herbst, K.N. Berberian, W. Almers, and M. Lindau. 2013. Rapid structural change in synaptosomal-associated protein 25 (SNAP25) precedes the fusion of single vesicles with the plasma membrane in live chromaffin cells. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A. 110:14249-54. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23940346
  11. Ngatchou, A.N., K. Kisler, Q. Fang, A.M. Walter, Y. Zhao, D. Bruns, J.B. Sorensen, and M. Lindau. 2010. Role of the synaptobrevin C terminus in fusion pore formation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A. 107:18463-8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20937897

Selected Awards and Honors

  • 2018 Sir Bernard Katz Award (the Biophysical Society Exocytosis and Endocytosis Subgroup) 2018
  • Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honors Society Teaching Award (Tau Beta Pi) 2010
  • President, Biophysical Society Exocytosis &Endocytosis Subgroup 2004
  • Appointed Member of Asian Institute of NanoBioScience and Technology 2003
  • Humboldt Research Award (Alexander v.Humboldt Foundation Germany) 2003

Education

  • BS (PHYSICS, GENL (EXCL BIOPHYS)), UNIV OF HAMBURG (GER), 1977
  • Ph D (PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY), TECH UNIV BERLIN (GER), 1983

Websites