Department of Physics

Generation of force is critical for many cellular processes. Central to these processes are motor proteins, proteins that use the cell’s chemical energy to create directed motion. Myosins are a family of motor proteins that generate motion along the filamentous protein actin using the energy of ATP hydrolysis. Single-molecule studies of myosin motors have led to a detailed understanding of their force-generating mechanism. However, an understanding of how a myosin functions also requires an understanding of how the motor is regulated by its cellular environment. In this talk, I will discuss single molecule optical trap studies as well as studies conducted in a cellular system that have helped us understand how a particular myosin class, myosin VI, is regulated in the cell. I will also describe preliminary results for studies of the regulated activities of two other myosin classes.