Drey Crockett Rose Hills
Regulation of Kinesin Motors by Microtubule Associate Proteins
Cells rely on molecular motor proteins to transport cargo along microtubule tracks, and failures in this critical transportation system can lead to diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. My research will focus on how structural microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) can act as traffic regulators, selectively activating and blocking specific motors. Previous research has found that kinesin-1 and -3 are inversely activated and inhibited by MAP7 and MAP9, suggesting that cells use these proteins to direct specific cargo to specific destinations. I will study how kinesin-3 navigates MAP9-decorated microtubules in a simpler in-vitro reconstituted system, and observe the dynamics using TIRF microscopy and super-resolution imaging. I will track the nanometer-scale steps of a single motor protein, then measure how often kinesin-3 steps forward, sideways, or detaches when encountering MAP9. This quantification will help us understand MAP-based motor regulation, and ultimately how cells can achieve precise control over cargo delivery.
Message To Sponsor
Thank you so much for your support of my research this summer! I am excited to continue exploring the application of math and physics to biological systems with new experimental data, and hopefully uncovering new details in the MAP regulation of motor proteins. I am very grateful for this opportunity, thank you!