Join Professor Ahmet Yildiz from UC Berkeley for a Force Talk entitled "The Mechanism and Regulation of Microtubule Motors"

Abstract:

Eukaryotic cells are intricately organised on many length and time scales, from molecules to organelles. Much of this organisation is achieved by kinesin and dynein motors, which directionally transport intracellular components along microtubules. While detailed mechanistic models now exist for individual motor complexes, it remains unclear how these opposing motors are recruited to specific cargos, regulated to achieve bidirectional transport, and sorted to deliver their cargo to correct destinations. Recent studies indicated that signals that mediate polarized transport can be encoded on the microtubule tracks, but the precise nature of such signals and how they control transport remain to be deciphered. To address these questions, we perform structural and mechanistic studies on physiologically relevant transport complexes in the presence of their cofactors and regulatory proteins. Professor Yildiz will present a biophysical model for how dynein accessory factors stimulate the activation of the dynein transport machinery. He will also discuss his team's recent efforts to dissect how opposing motors are coordinated when they are recruited to their respective cargos during transport and how motors are regulated by microtubule-associated proteins.

Speaker:

Professor Ahmet Yildiz received his Ph.D. in biophysics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2004. During his Ph.D. in Paul Selvin’s group, he developed a single fluorescent particle tracking method with one-nanometer accuracy and showed how molecular motors of the cytoskeleton walk along linear tracks inside cells. His work in single-molecule fluorescence has been awarded the Gregory Weber International Prize in Biological Fluorescence in 2005 and the Young Scientist Award by Science Magazine in 2006. During his postdoctoral work with Ron Vale, he studied the mechanism that coordinates the processive motility of kinesin. In 2008, he joined the Physics and MCB departments at UC Berkeley. His research group develops biophysical approaches to study the mechanism and regulation of dynein and kinesin motors that transport intracellular cargos along microtubules. His research has been recognized with the ASCB Emerging Leader Prize, the Barany Award by BPS, and the Vilcek Prize.

How to join:

This event will take place online via Microsoft Teams, a meeting link will be provided closer to the date.

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