Our research focuses on the cytoskeletal machinery for cell morphogenesis. We want to know how microtubules become dynamically patterned into specific arrays and how these arrays guide cell wall deposition to impart cell shape. Our work uses a synergistic combination of live imaging, in vitro reconstitution at single-molecule resolution, molecular genetics and computational modeling. This multidisciplinary approach has allowed us to discover new components and mechanisms underlying the complex and multi-scale process linking microtubule dynamics and organization to cell shape determination.
Latest Lab News
Cellular Transformations book published!
Ram and Sung Ho Kim’s book based on their Cellular Transformations course is published! This book highlights how the confluence of biology and architecture can be used to develop new solutions to address real-world problems.
Paper on artificial fibrous scaffolds for plant cell growth accepted for publication in Science Advances
This work reports cell wall mimetic scaffolds for the growth and culture of plant cells in vitro. Congrats to Ryan Calcutt who is first author on this paper!
Functional Interactions Between Actin Filaments and Microtubules in Plant and Animal Cells
Our review article on functional microtubule-actin interactions will appear in the Encyclopedia of Biological Chemistry, 3rd Edition. Check out the paper here: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-819460-7.00303-0.
We are part of the NSF-funded Science and Technology Center for Engineering Mechanobiology (https://cemb.upenn.edu/) which seeks to understand how mechanical forces impact biology at molecular, cellular and tissue scales.
Contact Us
Contact us at:
Biology Department
Washington University in St. Louis
1 Brookings Dr, CB 1137
St. Louis, MO 63130.
Lab phone: (314) 935 9080