The rockefeller university

Event Details

Type

Friday Lecture Series

Speaker(s)

Michael Sheetz, Ph.D., William R. Kenan Jr. Professor, Columbia University, Myosin Pulling and Mechanotransduction

James Spudich, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry, Stanford School of Medicine, Hypertrophic and Dilated Cardiomyopathies: Single Molecule Analysis of Human Cardiac Myosin

Ronald Vale, Ph.D., professor, University of California, San Francisco; investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), Structure and Mechanism of the Dynein Motor Protein

Speaker bio(s)

Many basic cellular functions depend on the directed movement of macromolecules, membranes or chromosomes from one place to another within the cell. The transport of this intracellular cargo is achieved by molecular motor proteins, such as myosin and kinesin, which provide force and movement through the conversion of chemical energy (ATP) into mechanical energy. Molecular motor proteins move along scaffolds made of specific protein polymers (kinesin along microtubules and myosin along actin filaments) carrying their cargo to its proper place in the cell. Understanding motor functions in cells is integral to understanding and treating deficiencies which lead to disease. For example, kinesin deficiencies have been identified as cause for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and some kidney diseases. Drs. Sheetz, Spudich and Vale's continuing work on the mechanisms behind cell transformation aim to answer questions such as: What is the extent of the involvement of these two pathways in a variety of phenomena from fertilization to brain function? How do collections of protein machines function together to generate complex behavior in living cells?

Open to

Public

Reception

Refreshments, 3:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m., Abby Lounge

Contact

Robert Houghtaling

Phone

(212) 327-8072

Sponsor

Robert Houghtaling
(212) 327-8072
rhoughtali@rockefeller.edu