PHYS-LL02
Applying multi-scale simulation approach to reveal the mechanisms of molecular motor directional motions
Dr. Lin Li
Preferred major field of study or minimum required skills
Students from Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Math or other related majors who are interested in computational biology research are highly demanded. Skill required: None. Students can learn the programs as beginners.
Scholarly significance/intellectual merit
Molecular motors such as kinesin-5 family members paly significant roles in mitosis. Therefore, they have been taken as ideal targets for anti-mitotic drugs for curing cancer. Other kinesins are responsible for neuronal transport thus mutations/defects in such kinesins result in neurological disorders and many serious diseases such as Alzheimer, Huntington, Parkinson disease, neurodegenerative diseases, polycystic kidney disease, Charcot Marie Tooth Disease Type II and many others. To understand the molecular mechanism of kinesin function and how mutations affect it, comprehensive biophysical investigations are needed. Combining the new developed computational approaches and experimental work from our collaborators will provide better ground for understanding the effects of mutations on the wild type kinesins biophysical characteristics.
Research question(s)
- Identify key residues for kinesins' directionalities
- Demonstrate kinesins' motility pattern along microtubules
- Investigate kinesins' motion on multiple microtubules.
Methods/techniques/instruments to be learned/utilized
At Dr. Li's lab you have the possibility to learn the following:
- Linux/Shell script
- Simulation programs: NAMD/VMD/Chimera
- Programs: DelPhi/DelPhiForce
