Molecular
Motors, Intracellular Cargo Transport, and Heart Disease
The Warshaw Molecular Motors Group focuses on the structure and function of
molecular motors and cytoskeletal proteins associated with biological movement ranging from
muscle contraction to intracellular vesicular transport. Researchers still do not understand
how molecular motors, such as myosin, convert the energy from ATP hydrolysis into mechanical
work as the molecular motor moves along its actin track. Our approach is comparative; we study
myosins that differ substantially in both their structure and functional capacities in order
to match their cellular roles in biological motion. Additional insight can be obtained from
genetically mutated motors and cytoskeletal proteins that lead to inherited forms of human
heart failure. We use the power of molecular biophysics and single molecule techniques to
characterize the molecular performance of the actomyosin motor.
