This special Physics department colloquium is scheduled for Monday 5/18/15 at 3:30 pm in Room 135. Coffee, tea and cookies are served at 3:15 pm in the same room. Anyone is welcome.

Myosin V: A Molecular Motor designed for intracellular cargo transport
Dr. M. Yusuf Ali, Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, College of Medicine, University of Vermont

Intracellular cargo transport is ciritical for normal cellular function in all living organisms. Myosin V is a molecular motor responsible for carrying a variety of intracellular cargoes. It is a tiny, biological nano-machine that walks along actin filament tracks and powers this movement by hydrolyzing ATP and converting chemical energy into mechanical work. While carrying cargo, each molecule can travel long distances (~1µm) at a speed of 400 nm/s, taking 36nm hand-over-hand steps and generating ~2 piconewton forces. Although a single myosin V is sufficient to transport cargo in vitro, a team of motors is required to transport cargo to its destination within cells. I have initiated a unique set of single-molecule biophysical experiments to understand how multiple myosin V motors communicate, cooperate, or even interfere with each other while transporting cargo through the complicated cytoskeletal network of actin tracks. In addition, myosin V-based transport may be regulated by adapter proteins, which are binding partners of myosin V. However, the role of these adapter proteins are poorly understood. Therefore, my long-term research goals are to understand the molecular basis of intracellular cargo transport by teams of molecular motors.