Nick
Carter
| Single
molecule mechanics
We recently showed using optical trapping
microscopy that kinesin-1 can walk backwards under load. Current
work is aimed at understanding the mechanism of back-stepping.
Doug
Drummond|The kinesin binding site on tubulin
The
binding site of kinesin-1 on microtubules is not well defined. Alpha
and beta tubulin mutants have been created in S. pombe. These will
be examined in vivo and in vitro and a map of tubulin amino acids
with a significant role in kinesin ATPase activation and motility
created.
Miho
Katsuki|
Reconstituting microtubule dynamics
+TIP proteins form a complex at the plus end of microtubules and
regulate the microtubule dynamics. The proteins forming the complex
depend on microtubule-growth state and cell cycle. To unravel the
+TIPs complex "spatio-temporally", we are going to track
the behaviour of individual or combined purified +TIPs-Qdot fusion
proteins in vitro.
Maria
Alonso|Moving parts of kinesin Kinesin
is a motor protein that walks processively along a tubulin polymer
(road) using one molecule of ATP (petrol) every 8 nm step. To adapt
itself to all this different positions, we think it must be changing
its structural conformation. We have made defined mutations in the
head, neck and tail, to see if they make a difference in the behaviour
of the protein.
Kuniyoshi
Kaseda|Eg5
mechanism The
Eg5 motor is essential for mitosis and meiosis, where it slides antiparallel
microtubules apart. I want to discover how individual Eg5 molecules
generate force and movement, and how they collaborate effectively.
Frauke
Hussmann |Alp14
& Dis1 There
are two XMAP215 family microtubule binding proteins, in S. pombe,
Alp14 and Dis1. I want to express and purify these proteins and find
out how they modify the assembly of S. pombe tubulin.
Dana
Gheorghe |The
tubulin binding site on kinesin My
second interest is in working out which residues on kinesin are
involved in binding to tubulin. Dana
Gheorghe |S.
pombe actin I
want to purify S. pombe actin and look at the set of proteins that
links actin dynamics to microtubule dynamics in S. pombe.
