Building the cilium with ATP-driven molecular motors

Anthony Roberts (primary)
Biological Sciences
Birkbeck
Carolyn Moores (secondary)
Biological Sciences
Birkbeck

Abstract

The cilium is an antenna-like structure that is crucial for sensing physical and chemical stimuli in eukaryotes. How the cell builds the cilium is a major unsolved question. Central to cilium construction are the molecular motors dynein and kinesin. These motors form oligomeric complexes that transport building blocks to and from the tip of the cilium, powered by ATP hydrolysis. The goal of this project is to use single-molecule fluorescence microscopy and cryo-electron microscopy to dissect the structure of the motor complexes and their mechanism of movement.


References

1. Toropova K, Mladenov M, Roberts AJ (2017) Intraflagellar transport dynein is autoinhibited by trapping of its mechanical and track-binding elements. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology 24(5):461-468.

2. Atherton J, Farabella I, Yu IM, Rosenfeld SS, Houdusse A, Topf M, Moores CA (2014) Conserved mechanisms of microtubule-stimulated ADP release, ATP binding, and force generation in transport kinesins. Elife, e03680

3. Ishikawa H, Marshall WF (2011) Ciliogenesis: building the cell’s antenna. Nature Reviews Molecular Cellular Biology, 12: 222-34.


BBSRC Area
Molecules, cells and industrial biotechnology
Area of Biology
Cell BiologyStructural Biology
Techniques & Approaches
BiochemistryBiophysicsChemistryImage ProcessingMicroscopy / ElectrophysiologyMolecular Biology