Our long range goal is to establish the molecular mechanisms of actin-based cellular movements.
Actin polymerization pushes the cell membrane forward during cellular locomotion.
Actin filaments also contribute to the cytoskeleton and serve as tracks for myosin-based movements, including cytokinesis and some membrane movements. These movements are essential for cell division, embryonic development and defense against microorganisms in the spread of cancer cells. We work on the structure of actin-binding proteins, the dynamics of their interactions and their functions in live cells. The following projects range from purely biophysical to purely biological, using current yeast molecular biology and genetics, protein mutagenesis and biochemistry, kinetic analysis of protein interactions, analysis of live cells by light microscopy and structure determination by x-ray crystallography. We have used biochemical and biophysical methods to characterize three key components that regulate actin assembly.