Research Summary:
The membranes of eukarytoic cells are in continual flux, trafficking receptors and other proteins to their appropriate intracellular destinations. This process is important to signal transduction, cancer, and development. The overall goal of my lab is to understand how membrane traffic is regulated in normal cells and how this process goes awry in diseased cells. Our research is designed to identify and understand the cellular proteins that form, direct and regulate traffic. Currently, we are focusing on the proteins that form the structural coat of endocytic vesicles, with a particular focus on the clathrin coat. Our strategies include phenotypic analysis of cells harboring mutant clathrin, use of video microscopy to track labeled proteins in living cells, and genetic screens to isolate genes that function in endocytosis. As model systems we use the soil ameoba, Dictyostelium discoideum,. This unicellular organism offers genetic advantages as well as robust membrane trafficking pathways. We also use cultured mammalian cell lines to translate our research into a complex eukaryotic cellular model.