My laboratory focuses on the basic cellular properties of developing nerve and muscle with emphasis on relating structure to function. Two different projects are currently underway. The first involves the mechanism of nerve growth cone locomotion and the relationship between growth cone motility and nerve outgrowth. The focus of this work is on the mechanoenzymes and cytoskeletal components that are likely to participate in growth cone motility. Cellular and molecular methods are being used to locate and disrupt the activity of mechanoenzymes and cytoskeletal polymers thought to be important for locomotion.
The second project concentrates on a unique mechanoenzyme, myosin V, which appears to be important for normal central nervous system function. Mouse myosin V null mutants exhibit ataxia, convulsions and opisthotonus, which lead to death by postnatal day 21. We are using a variety of cellular and molecular techniques to determine the functional role of myosin V in nerve cells and how the abscence of myosin V leads to the abnormal neurologic symptoms seen in the mutant animals.
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