In vitro reconstitution of motor-driven nuclear oscillations

• Antragstellerinnen / Antragsteller: Professor Dr. Stefan Diez; Professorin Iva Marija Tolic, Ph.D.
• Fachliche Zuordnung: Biophysik
• Förderung: Förderung von 2009 bis 2012
• Projektkennung: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 107847528

Molecular motors play a crucial role in fundamental cell functions such as cell division and intracellular transport. Although much is known about the behavior of individual motors, the interplay of a multitude of motors, which leads to concerted movements in the cell, is not yet well understood. Meiotic nuclear oscillations in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe have been used as an easily accessible model process to study intracellular movements driven by dynein motors operating on microtubules.In this project, an “artificial cell” system will be set up which will for the first time allow for investigating nuclear oscillations in a controlled and simplified environment in vitro. We will develop a novel assay in which motors can dynamically attach and detach from the artificial cell wall, a process defined to be essential for the oscillations in vivo. By studying the gliding motion of artificially prepared, anti-parallel microtubule doublets on these surfaces, the minimal set of components and conditions required to obtain oscillations will be identified, and the impact of individual parameters, such as the binding strength of the motors, on the oscillations will be studied. The results of these investigations will elucidate the fundamentals of the collective behavior of motors leading to large-scale movements in living cells.

• DFG-Verfahren: Sachbeihilfen