Cytoskeletal proteins refer to a group of molecules inside our cells that provide structure and support, similar to the framework of a building. They help maintain the cell's shape, assist in cell division, enable movement, and transport materials within the cell. In simple terms, they are like the "skeleton" of the cell, helping it function properly.
Full definition
Dr. Simon Atkinson is a cell biologist with a basic research background
in cytoskeletal proteins who is now Chair of Biology at the joint Indiana University - Purdue University graduate school in Indianapolis.
In addition, I'm also interested in investigating the dynamics of
archaeal cytoskeletal proteins and structures, honing in on homologs from the Asgard clade which I can express in heterologous systems.
With the support of the Wellcome Trust to address this prospect, we have assembled a diverse team of researchers to explore the ultrastructure, biophysics, biochemical activities and cell biology context of
cytoskeletal proteins encoded in «Asgard» genomes.
In particular, these characteristics determine how easily it can push against a cytoplasm's surrounding water and move through its ever - changing web of
cytoskeletal protein structures.
Ideally, this would involve highly - fluorescent molecules that can
bind cytoskeletal proteins with high specificity without being toxic to the cell.
The stretch induced changes in proteins related, e.g., to
certain cytoskeletal proteins, but also in enzymes associated with protein synthesis, such as eukaryotic elongation factors 1 - beta and 1 - delta.
Our labs study the movement of individual cells that crawl through complex environments, and we try to understand how these cellular movements are linked to the creation and growth of
cytoskeletal protein networks inside the cells.
Within cells, collective dynamics of
the cytoskeletal protein actin is well known.
In a 2015 paper in Analytical Chemistry, her group reported isolating fragments of eight other proteins from fossils of dinosaurs and extinct birds, including hemoglobin in blood,
the cytoskeletal protein actin, and histones that help package DNA.
The role of
the cytoskeletal protein, tubulin, in the mode of action and mechanism of drug resistance to benzimidazoles.
Activated ERK1 / 2 modulates the functions of several transcription factors, protein kinases, protein phosphatases,
cytoskeletal proteins, signaling molecules, apoptosis - related proteins, as well as other types of proteins [32], while activated AKT modulates the function of numerous substrates involved in the regulation of cell survival, cell cycle progression and cellular growth [33, 34], whereas JNK acts as pro-apoptotic as well as anti-apoptotic depending on the conditions [35].
Future research focuses on lipid - protein and protein - protein interactions that are of more general importance for the function of membrane and
cytoskeletal proteins, respectively.
'» In 1991, in a Science paper, a team led by Lee and Trojanowski demonstrated that
the cytoskeletal protein tau is a building block of neurofibrillary tangles, one of the characteristics of Alzheimer's disease.
An astrocyte stained using antibodies against the sorting receptor SorLA (green) and
the cytoskeletal protein GFAP (red).
Protein 4.1 R is
a cytoskeletal protein first identified in erythrocytes and the neuronal homologues, 4.1 N and 4.1 G have been shown to interact with the GluA1 subunit (Shen et al 2000).