Join Professor Gregory Alushin from The Rockefeller University for a Force Talk entitled “Visualizing cellular force-sensing through the cytoskeleton”.

Abstract:

In addition to chemical cues, cells in the body must perceive physical forces at the molecular scale to orchestrate development and maintain homeostasis. Cells probe and respond to the physical properties of their local environments through the actin cytoskeleton, a network of protein polymers, motor proteins, and myriad associated partners. The Alushin lab studies how actin filaments serve as cellular tension sensors, engaging in force-sensitive binding interactions to transduce mechanical forces into biochemical signals. Different force regimes elicit specific conformational transitions in actin, suggesting the potential for a mechanical code that is interpreted by binding partners. These mechanical transitions are evoked through mechanisms distinct from standard biochemical regulation, providing a glimpse at how forces modulate protein structure to regulate function.

Speaker:

Greg Alushin is an Associate Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Structural Biophysics and Mechanobiology at the Rockefeller University. He received his PhD in Biophysics from UC Berkeley in 2012, where he worked with Eva Nogales to visualize structural transitions in tubulin underlying microtubule dynamic instability and protein complexes which form attachments between chromosomes and microtubules during mitosis. After a brief postdoc with Clare Waterman at the NIH focused on the cell biology of the actin cytoskeleton and mechanical signal transduction, Greg established his lab there in 2013 as a faculty fellow before moving to Rockefeller in 2017. The Alushin lab uses cell biological, biophysical, and structural approaches to study how mechanical forces regulate cytoskeletal filaments and their partners to mediate cellular force-sensing.

How to join:

This event will take place online via Microsoft Teams. Register for this event to receive the meeting link and be notified of updates.

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