Michael Cianfrocco, Life Sceinces Institute, University of Michigan

Host: Liz Kellogg, Nozomi Ando

Molecular mechanisms of microtubule-based cargo transport 

As the fundamental unit of life, the cell represents the building block within tissues, organs, and organisms. Since cells live in an ever-changing intracellular environment, intracellular processes are undergoing constant movement and rearrangement. Specifically, due to the crowded nature of the cell interior, molecular transport of organelles, proteins, and other biological complexes is critical. Considering that many, if not all, cell biological phenomenon occur at specific time points and places within the cell, it is critical to understand these events as more than just a snapshot, but rather as a dynamic process. In order to approach these questions, my laboratory utilizes a combination of single molecule TIRF and cryo-EM in order to determine mechanisms of intracellular transport. This presentation will focus on a number of aspects of cargo transport ranging from post-translational modifications of tubulin to cargo binding to kinesin and dynein motor proteins. In addition to these biological questions, I will also discuss our latest work developing methods to enable robust pipelines for cryo-EM structure determination. 

poster