This talk is an activity from the FEBS Junior Section, an initiative set up by students and young researchers from some of the FEBS Constituent Societies. Each month, members of the FEBS Junior Section organize an online event on either a research or a career topic. This talk is coordinated by Young-NVBMB, the junior section of the Netherlands Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (NVBMB).

• Speaker’s name and affiliation: Prof. Friedrich Förster, Utrecht University, the Netherlands

• Talk title: Molecular visualization of protein biogenesis in the cell

• Date/Time of the talk: October 15th 2026, 19:00 CEST

• Link to register:
  https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PBoRISqpRnexFj62cNy6kw

Participants will have the opportunity to stay for an after-talk hangout to have an informal chat with the speaker, members of the FEBS Junior Section, and other participants.

Abstract

Protein biogenesis relies on coordinated molecular machines that synthesize, insert, and mature proteins during translation. To visualize these processes directly in cells, we developed cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) workflows integrating template matching with subtomogram averaging and classification. Applied to the endoplasmic reticulum, these approaches enable systematic detection and structural characterization of ribosome–translocon assemblies responsible for synthesis and membrane insertion of a large fraction of the human proteome. Extensive classification reveals distinct states of translating ribosomes and associated translocons, including specialized polysomes for secretory or multipass membrane proteins. Complementary single-particle cryo-EM resolves the molecular basis of signal peptide cleavage. Together, these studies demonstrate how cryo-ET/EM provides molecular-resolution insight into protein biogenesis in its cellular context.

Biosketch

Friedrich Förster is Professor of Cryo-Electron Microscopy at Utrecht University and Director of the Bijvoet Centre for Biomolecular Research. Trained as a physicist, he obtained his PhD at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry/TUM, developing computational methods for cryo-electron tomography, followed by postdoctoral research at UCSF. He subsequently established an independent group at the Max Planck Institute before moving to Utrecht in 2016.

His research combines cryo-electron tomography, single-particle cryo-EM and computational approaches to understand protein biogenesis and quality control in their cellular context, with a particular focus on ribosomes and the endoplasmic reticulum. His work has been supported by HFSP, ERC and NWO grants, including an NWO Vici and the Gravitation programme FLOW, and he was recently elected as an EMBO Member. He has played a leading role in developing national cryo-EM infrastructure in the Netherlands as Chair of NEMI.