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Molecular motors
How dynein and kinesin harness ATP hydrolysis to take nanometer steps and produce piconewton forces along microtubules.
Dissecting microtubule-based transport in health and disease — one molecule at a time.
Welcome
The Gennerich Lab develops and applies advanced high-resolution and single-molecule microscopy techniques to understand how biomolecular motors work and generate biological motion. We combine ultrasensitive optical trapping and single-molecule fluorescence with molecular biology and biochemistry to dissect the machines that power cell division and intracellular transport.
Our long-term goal is to uncover the fundamental design principles of molecular motors such as cytoplasmic dynein and kinesin, and to reveal the molecular basis of human diseases that arise when motor function fails.
How dynein and kinesin harness ATP hydrolysis to take nanometer steps and produce piconewton forces along microtubules.
High-resolution optical tweezers and single-molecule fluorescence assays that resolve the motion and force generation of individual proteins.
Linking pathogenic mutations in motors like KIF1A to defects in force generation and movement that underlie neurological disorders.
Recent work
From adaptor-mediated recruitment of multiple dyneins to dynactin, to the mechanochemistry of disease-causing KIF1A variants — our latest studies appear in Nature Cell Biology, Nature Communications, and beyond.