Researchers in the Pennsylvania Muscle Institute (PMI), based at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have received $9 million over the next five years from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to investigate the biology of cellular motors. E. Michael Ostap, PhD, director of the PMI is the principal investigator. Roberto Dominguez, PhD, Yale E. Goldman, MD PhD, and Erika L.F. Holzbaur, PhD, all professors of Physiology, are project leaders. The grant also supports a core for state-of-the-art nanotechnology tools for Penn researchers, directed by Henry Shuman, PhD, adjunct associate professor of Physiology.

The overall grant aims to study the machinery that powers the movement of materials in and out of cells and between compartments within cells. This process is called membrane trafficking and is crucial for healthy cell function. Neurological, sensory, and metabolic disorders occur when this process malfunctions.

Cells have a system of molecular highways and transport motors for moving internal cargos, called the cytoskeleton. Some of these highways are built for long-range transport of cargos, while others are for short-range deliveries. Remarkably, the cell is able to rapidly – in seconds to minutes -- build, disassemble, and rebuild these highways in response to the needs of the cell. 

Click here to view the full release.