Research Overview
Regulation of lipid-droplet motion
Molecules involved in droplet transport. Motors: kinesin, cytoplasmic dynein. Coordinators: Klar, dynactin. Conductors: LSD2, Sfo.
Signals: Halo; uncharacterized signal dependent on Ago2.
In the early Drosophila embryo, lipid droplets move bidirectionally along microtubules,
powered by plus- and minus-end motors. In collaboration with our colleagues,
we have identified molecules that appear to control transport at three distinct levels
(see cartoon): “coordinators” (pink) ensure that at any given moment only motors for one
direction are active; “conductors” (purple) determine how frequently this machinery switches
between the states in which plus- or minus-end motors are active; “signals” (orange) modulate
this switching frequency in trans.
We are now determining how these regulators act at the molecular level. Ongoing projects include
- characterization of a protein complex containing LSD2, Sfo and Klar and its physical interactions with the motors
- structure-function analysis of the Halo signaling molecule
For more details on our research, please check out the links below: