MCDB Seminar > Microtubule organisation and bidirectional cargo transport inside cells

Microtubules span the entire cell, provide structural integrity and serve as the tracks for long distance transport. To position organelles and transport vesicles and mRNAs inside the cell, cargoes recruit molecular motor proteins that walk unidirectionally along microtubules. Cytoplasmic dynein is the major minus end directed motor, while a range of kinesins transport cargo towards the plus end of microtubules. The Straube lab combines quantitative live cell imaging approaches with in vitro reconstitution assays to uncover the mechanisms that generate specific microtubule arrays in polarised cells and the transport along microtubule arrays mediated by dynein and kinesins.

Host: Morgan DeSantis