Author: Evangelina Nogales de la Morena, Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Molecular and Cell Biology Department, UC Berkeley
When: June, 23, 12PM (coffee at 11.30 AM)
Where: Salón de Actos, ICMM
Abstract: Motor proteins walk along microtubules to organize the contents of the cell or to segregate chromosomes during cell division. While regulation comes at many different levels, we are particularly interested in how Microtubule Associated Proteins (MAPs) that bind to microtubules to organize them and to regulate their dynamics can affect motor movement. We have defined new binding modes of some previously structurally uncharacterized MAPs to show how they stabilize microtubules, and have explored their interplay with different microtubule-based motors using a combination of photons (TIRF microscopy) and electrons (cryo-electron microscopy). I will talk about the complex relationships between pairs of MAPs and kinesin motors required for proper cellular function.
