Obara, Christopher
Cellular Biochemistry, Biophysics, Macromolecular Structure
Education
2014 PhD,
Microbiology & Immunology,
National Institutes of Health and Georgetown University
2009 B.S.,
Entomology & Nematology,
University of Florida
2009 B.A.,
Physics,
University of Florida
Appointments
2016-2024 Postdoctoral Fellow,
HHMI Janelia Research Campus
2014-2016 Intramural AIDS Research Fellow,
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Research Interests
The Obara Lab is interested in the way that single macromolecules, experiencing only the laws of physics in their local environment, are collectively orchestrated to give rise to living, self-maintaining systems. They primarily work on the dynamic, structurally complex membranes of subcellular organelles, which host crucial machinery for the regulation and coordination of nearly every major process of life in both health and disease.
Interdisciplinary interests
Cellular Biochemistry
Biophysics
Macromolecular Structure
Selected Publications
- Obara CJ,Nixon-Abell J,Moore AS,Riccio F,Hoffman DP,Shtengel G,Xu CS,Schaefer K,Pasolli HA,Masson JB,Hess HF,Calderon CP,Blackstone C,Lippincott-Schwartz J "Motion of VAPB molecules reveals ER-mitochondria contact site subdomains.", Nature, 2024, Vol. 626, Issue 7997, 169-176
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- Obara CJ,Moore AS,Lippincott-Schwartz J "Structural Diversity within the Endoplasmic Reticulum-From the Microscale to the Nanoscale.", Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol, 2023, Vol. 15, Issue 6,
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- Sun Y*, Yu Z*, Obara CJ, Mittal K, Lippincott-Schwartz J, Koslover EF. "Unraveling trajectories of diffusive particles on networks", Phys Rev Research, 2022,
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- Zheng P,Obara CJ,Szczesna E,Nixon-Abell J,Mahalingan KK,Roll-Mecak A,Lippincott-Schwartz J,Blackstone C "ER proteins decipher the tubulin code to regulate organelle distribution.", Nature, 2022, Vol. 601, Issue 7891, 132-138
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- Moore AS,Coscia SM,Simpson CL,Ortega FE,Wait EC,Heddleston JM,Nirschl JJ,Obara CJ,Guedes-Dias P,Boecker CA,Chew TL,Theriot JA,Lippincott-Schwartz J,Holzbaur ELF "Actin cables and comet tails organize mitochondrial networks in mitosis.", Nature, 2021, Vol. 591, Issue 7851, 659-664
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- Speiser A,Müller LR,Hoess P,Matti U,Obara CJ,Legant WR,Kreshuk A,Macke JH,Ries J,Turaga SC "Deep learning enables fast and dense single-molecule localization with high accuracy.", Nat Methods, 2021, Vol. 18, Issue 9, 1082-1090
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- Nixon-Abell J,Obara CJ,Weigel AV,Li D,Legant WR,Xu CS,Pasolli HA,Harvey K,Hess HF,Betzig E,Blackstone C,Lippincott-Schwartz J "Increased spatiotemporal resolution reveals highly dynamic dense tubular matrices in the peripheral ER.", Science, 2016, Vol. 354, Issue 6311,
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