June 6, 2016 – Baltimore, MD
A symposium in honor of Dr. Michael Edidin was held today at the Department of Biology at the Johns Hopkin’s University. Michael is famous for his contributions to both Biophysics and Immunology. He played a key role in early experiments using fluorescently tagged immunoglobulins for localization of specific proteins on the surface of cells. His pioneering paper D Frye and M Edidin.”The rapid intermixing of cell surface antigens after formation of mouse-human heterokaryons.” Journal of Cell Science. (1970) 7. 319-335 demonstrated the fluid nature of the plasma membrane. This was a key experiment that led to the formulation of the Fluid Mosaic Model of cell membranes. Michael went on to develop the technique of fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, which enabled measurement of diffusion coefficients of specific membrane lipids and proteins. This work was critical in the development of the concept of lipid rafts in biological membrane. Our understanding of the structure function realtionship of biological membranes is deeply indebted to Michael and we celebrate his outstanding career.