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"Building the brush border: shaping the cell with adhesion and actin polymerization"

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Wednesday, April 15, 2015
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Dr. Matt Tyska, Vanderbilt University
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology Spring Colloquium

Cytoskeletal motor proteins generate mechanical forces, which drive numerous cellular processes that are essential for life. Research in the Tyska laboratory is focused on elucidating the function of the actin cytoskeleton and its associated myosin motor proteins. The context for their studies is the ¿brush border¿: an array of actin-based protrusions known as microvilli, which extend from the surface of polarized epithelial cells. In the gut, the brush border serves as the sole site of nutrient absorption and a barrier to micro-organisms that reside in the lumenal space. Using an approach that combines biophysics, biochemistry, and cell biology, they are currently studying mechanisms that control microvillar dynamics, morphology, and function. They have also begun to dissect the mechanism of microvillar assembly, which was jumpstarted by thier recent elucidation of the entire brush border proteome.

Contact: Carolyn Weinbaum