41st iCeMS Seminar/CeMI Seminar Series 13: Prof. J. Howard, Prof. H. Oberleithner

CeMI：Center for Meso-Bio Single-Molecule Imaging

Molecular Control of Cellular Size: Microtubule Length Regulation by the Depolymerase Kinesin-8

(Prof. Jonathon Howard)

Prof. Howard will present his recent discovery of a mechanism by which the cell length is controlled. The motor protein kinesin-8 disassembles longer microtubules faster than shorter ones. The longer the microtubule, the more motors land on it; the motors are so processive that almost all get to the plus end; and at the plus end each motor removes just a single tubulin dimer. Thus the depolymerization rate is proportional to the flux of motor to the end, which is proportional to the number of motors that land on the microtubule, which is proportional to the length of the microtubule. Thus kinesin-8 provides feedback from length back onto the polymerization dynamics, providing a molecular mechanism to control size up to the micron scale (Varga et al. Cell 2009).

Nanomechanics of Vascular Endothelium

(Prof. Hans Oberleithner)

The inner layer of blood vessels is made of endothelial cells which participate in the control of blood pressure and tissue perfusion. Shape, size and stiffness of endothelial cells changes with function. By using atomic force microscopy (AFM), Prof. Oberleithner measured these fundamental parameters in living cells and related them to specific functional states, clearly showing that relating nanomechanics to cellular function allows novel insights into the molecular mechanisms of blood pressure regulation.

Lecturers & Titles	Prof. Jonathon Howard Director and Group Leader Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (Partner Institute of the iCeMS) "Molecular Control of Cellular Size: Microtubule Length Regulation by the Depolymerase Kinesin-8" Prof. Hans Oberleithner Institute of Physiology II University of Münster "Nanomechanics of Vascular Endothelium"
Date / Time	Wednesday, December 9, 2009 / 15:00-17:00
Venue	2nd floor Seminar Room (#A207), Main Building iCeMS Complex 1, Kyoto University Directions
Flyer	PDF (108KB)
Hosted by	Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS), Kyoto University The Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences, Kyoto University Membrane Mechanisms Project, ICORP-JST
Contact	Aki Kusumi akusumi@frontier.kyoto-u.ac.jp Fax: 81-(0)75-751-4113