Detailed Schedule
Browse the schedule below for session times, speakers, presentation titles, and breaks.
Sunday, October 11 — Day 1 | UH Student Center, South Ballroom (Room 210)
4:00–4:10 PM | Opening Remarks
Welcome and introduction to the meeting by Mingfu Wu, PhD
4:10–5:10 PM | Session 1 — Opening Keynote Lecture
– Introduced by Srinivasa (Srini) Subramaniam, PhD
Chiara Zurzolo, PhD — Institut Pasteur
From Molecular Mechanisms to Organismal Function in Health and Disease (Zoom)
5:10–6:55 PM | Session 2 — TNT Formation, Structure, and Molecular Mechanisms
– Session Chairs: Hyung-Bae Kwon, PhD, and Tahmid Faisal, PhD
5:10–5:35 PM | Kanae Ando, PhD — Tokyo Metropolitan University
CCT4 Drives the Formation of Microtubule-Containing TNTs (Zoom)
5:35-6:00 PM | Short Break
5:40–6:05 PM | Karine Gousset, PhD — California State University, Fresno
From LCM to Multi-Omics: A Multidimensional Pipeline for High-Confidence Mapping of the Filopodia Proteome
6:05–6:30 PM | Anna Pepe, PhD — Institut Pasteur
Tunneling Nanotubes: From Ultrastructure and Actin Organization to Intercellular Transfer (Zoom)
6:30–6:55 PM | Daniel G. Isom, PhD — University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
TM184C Is a GPCR-Like Regulator of Intercellular Exchange
7:00 PM | Welcome Dinner Reception — UH Student Center, South Ballroom (Room 210)
Monday, October 12 — Day 2 | Rockwell Pavilion, MD Anderson Library
7:30–8:30 AM | Breakfast (Coffee/Tea/Pastries) — Rockwell Pavilion
8:30–9:30 AM | Session 3 — Keynote Lecture
– Introduced by Mingfu Wu, PhD
Thomas B. Kornberg, PhD — University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)
Cytonemes and the Attributes of Contact-Dependent Cell–Cell Signaling
9:30–9:50 AM | Coffee Break
9:50 AM–12:00 PM | Session 4 — Cytonemes, Airinemes, and Specialized Cellular Protrusions
– Session Chairs: Dae Seok Eom, PhD, and Anuradha Kesharwani, PhD
9:50–10:15 AM | Dae Seok Eom, PhD — University of California, Irvine
The Biology of Airinemes as a Macrophage-Dependent Mode of Intercellular Communication
10:15–10:40 AM | Sougata Roy, PhD — University of Maryland
Emerging Principles of Cytoneme Guidance: Lessons from Drosophila FGF Signaling
10:40–11:05 AM | Stacey Ogden, PhD — St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Mechanisms of Cytoneme Elongation and Stabilization for Sonic Hedgehog Transport
11:05–11:10 AM | Short Break
11:10–11:35 AM | Han Xiao, PhD — Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China
Nanotube-Mediated Intercellular Communication in Cardiac Injury and Repair (Zoom)
11:35–11:55 AM | Ying S. Hu, PhD — University of Illinois Chicago
Membrane Labeling Strategies for Visualizing Dynamic Transport Within Tunneling Nanotubes by Fluorescence Super-Resolution Microscopy
11:55 AM–12:00 PM | Group Photo
12:00–1:00 PM | Lunch — Rockwell Pavilion
1:00–2:40 PM | Session 5 — Intercellular Cargo Transfer, Development, and Tissue Homeostasis
– Session Chairs: Hua Zhu, PhD, and Andrew Lopez, PhD
1:00–1:25 PM | Jeffrey Gerst, PhD — Weizmann Institute of Science
Genetic Complementation via TNT-Mediated Intercellular mRNA Exchange (Zoom)
1:25–1:50 PM | Mingfu Wu, PhD — University of Houston
Tunneling Nanotube-Mediated Long-Distance Cell–Cell Communication in Heart Formation
1:50–2:15 PM | Francesco Pisani, PhD — University of Bari Aldo Moro
Tunneling Nanotubes Orchestrate the Spatiotemporal Regulation of Human Neural Stem Cell Fate (Zoom)
2:15–2:40 PM | Hua Zhu, PhD — The Ohio State University
Mitochondrial Transfer in Skeletal Muscle Cells of Friedreich's Ataxia
2:40–3:10 PM | Coffee Break
3:10–5:20 PM | Session 6 — Nanotubular Communication in the Nervous System and Neurodegenerative Disease
– Session Chairs: Jin Ye, PhD, and Zihan Zheng, MS
3:10–3:35 PM | Dimitri Budinger, PhD — University of Luxembourg
Patient-Derived iPS Cells to Study TNT-Mediated Interaction Between Microglia and Neurons
3:35–4:00 PM | Hyung-Bae Kwon, PhD — Johns Hopkins University
Brain Communication by Dendritic Nanotube Network
4:00–4:25 PM | Sangeeta Nath, PhD — Manipal Institute of Regenerative Medicine
Tunneling Nanotubes Support Mechanical Resilience in Astroglia (Zoom)
4:25–4:50 PM | Srinivasa (Srini) Subramaniam, PhD — Florida Atlantic University
Rhes Pathway for Nanotube Formation and Huntingtin Protein Spread
4:50–4:55 PM | Short Break
4:55–5:07 PM | Francesca Luchetti, BS — University of Urbino Carlo Bo
Melatonin Modulates Microglia Inflammation and Mitochondrial Transfer to Neurons via Tunneling Nanotubes during Ischemic Stress (Zoom)
5:07–5:20 PM | Jose Ricardo Ramirez, BS — The University of Texas Medical Branch
Tunneling Nanotubes Facilitate the Spread of HIV Through Myosin Motor Proteins
5:20–7:00 PM | Poster Session and Dinner — Rockwell Pavilion
Tuesday, October 13 — Day 3 | Rockwell Pavilion, MD Anderson Library
8:00–8:30 AM | Breakfast (Coffee/Tea/Pastries) — Rockwell Pavilion
8:30–10:10 AM | Session 7 — TNTs in Infection, Cell Death, and Disease Progression
– Session Chair: Olena Shtanko, Ph, and Rafael Tomoya Michita, PhD
8:30–8:55 AM | Rafael Tomoya Michita, PhD — Penn State
Tunneling Nanotubes as a Mechanism for Viral Spread at the Placental Barrier
8:55–9:20 AM | Olena Shtanko, PhD — UTSA
Ebola Virus Replication Transforms Migratory Properties of Macrophages to Promote Virus Replication and Spread Through Tunneling Nanotubes
9:20–9:45 AM | Jin Ye, PhD — UT Southwestern Medical Center
The Deadly Network: How TNTs Drive Ferroptosis Progression
9:45–10:10 AM | Karine Gousset, PhD — California State University, Fresno
Myosin-X Acts Upstream of L-Plastin to Drive Stress-Induced Tunneling Nanotubes
10:10–10:40 AM | Coffee Break
10:40–12:20 AM | Session 8 — Nanotubular Communication in Cancer and the Tumor Microenvironment
– Session Chairs: Dionysios C. Watson, MD, PhD, and Luqi Zhao, MD
10:40–11:05 AM | Dionysios C. Watson, MD, PhD — University of Miami
Glioblastoma Takes Control of Astrocyte Biology via Microtube-Dependent Mitochondria Transfer
11:05–11:30 AM | Tanmoy Saha, PhD — Harvard Medical School / Brigham and Women's Hospital
Nanotubular Communication in the Cancer Immune Context
11:30–11:55 AM | Francesco Di Palma, PhD — University of Bari Aldo Moro
Tunneling Nanotube-Mediated Transmitophagy Promotes Apoptosis Resistance in Multiple Myeloma
11:55–12:20 AM | Inés Sáenz de Santa María, PhD — CIBERONC / Prince Felipe Research Center (CIPF), Valencia, Spain
Tunneling Nanotubes Mediate Mitochondrial Homeostasis in Cancer (Zoom)
12:20–12:30 PM | Closing Remarks
Meeting summary, acknowledgments, and future directions by Srinivasa (Srini) Subramaniam, PhD, and Hyung-Bae Kwon, PhD.
12:30 PM | Grab-and-Go Boxed Lunch — Rockwell Pavilion