Force Generation by Microtubule Motors and Diffusible Crosslinkers

We are interested in the development and the application of novel optical techniques to investigate molecular transport in cell biology and nanotechnology. Building on our experience in single molecule biophysics and in the in vitro reconstruction of subcellular mechano-systems our group studies cooperative effects in motor transport and cell motility. Moreover, we aim to apply biomolecular motor systems in synthetic, engineered environments for the generation, manipulation and detection of nanostructures.

The talk will focus on results, where we use single-molecule fluorescence microscopy to learn about the interaction of motor and non-motor proteins with microtubules. In particular, we will report on the generation of directed forces by diffusible microtubule crosslinkers of the Ase1/PRC1/Map65 family. With respect to nanotechnological applications, the talk will describe novel methods to control biomolecular transport systems by external signals in a spatio-temporal manner. Using kinesin-driven microtubules we demonstrate the sensitive detection of molecular components and the optical mapping of nanometer-sized surface topographies.