Links:
CCAM
If you are looking for the class website of MEDS6450/BME6450, follow this link.
Research summary
Prokaryotic Cytoskeleton
Bacterial cells are organized around a set of cytoskeletal structures. E. coli, for example, have a tubulin homolog protein call FtsZ, which forms a ring structure at the cell's septum and is needed for cell division.
We have been trying to learn about their functions by following the actions of individual molecules in real time.
Here are some single-molecule movies: (Enable javascript if you don't see the embeded movies)
| A stationary FtsZ molecule in the septum region | A quite mobile FtsZ molecule at the cell peripheral | Some other examples of "dancing" FtsZ molecules |
Postsynaptic actin network
In excitatory neurons, F-actin is often enriched at the post-synaptic sites, e.g. dendritic spines. Dynamic F-actin cytoskeletons at these sites are required for establishing long-term potentiation and long-term depression. Qantification of the actin dynamics in dendritic spines faces non-trivial technical difficulties, not the least because of the extremely small sizes of the dendritic spine. We are working on using single-molecule imaging to achieve super-resolution measurements of F-actin dynamics in these systems.
| Actin molecules in dendritic spines showing vectorial movements of the Filaments. |