E. Ostap
University of Pennsylvania, PA·Biophysics
Cells move, change shape and organize their insides using molecular motors. These motors are proteins that turn chemical energy into force.
- Fields
Biophysics
Biochemistry
Biology
- Topics
myosin
Myo1b
Myo1c
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Nov 2026
What they work on
- Determine the structural basis of myosin force sensing by testing conserved residues that tune tension sensitivity in Myo1b and Myo1c, using engineered motors, microsecond optical trapping and cryo-EM.
- Solve cryo-EM structures of mechanically strained, actin-bound Myo1b dimers and of Myo1c. Develop FRET force sensors, fluorescent tension reporters, to measure myosin-I forces in living cells.
- Explain how Drosophila Myo1C and Myo1D turn actin in a left-handed direction to set left-right asymmetry, using cryo-EM, E-cadherin binding and adhesion-force measurements, and micro-patterned actin networks.
- Define how tropomyosin, an actin-coating regulatory protein, modulates the activity of Myo1b, Myo1c and Myo1g, using purified acetylated tropomyosin isoforms in biochemical and motility assays.
More about the research
Myosins are one family of such motors, and they walk along actin filaments, the protein cables of the cell's skeleton. A central question is how a myosin senses mechanical load and adjusts its behavior in response. Another is how myosins attached to cell membranes help build cell and tissue structure. The lab studies the myosin-I family to answer these questions about energy conversion in all myosins.
Why it matters
Molecular motors and the cell skeleton touch nearly every part of normal cell function and sit at key signaling and developmental pathways. They are increasingly recognized as possible drug targets. Understanding how myosins sense force could clarify how disease-causing myosin mutations act. It could also yield engineered motors for probing cell biology and explain how body left-right asymmetry is set up.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Sarah Heissler
Ohio State University, OH·Biochemistry
Determine the enzymatic profile of myosin-3 motors, kinase-myosin hybrid proteins, and how their activity is regulated, using biochemical and biophysical measurements on purified proteins.
Gregory Alushin
Rockefeller University, NY·Biophysics
Determine the structural mechanisms and cellular functions of catch bonds, protein contacts that strengthen under pulling force, in cytoskeletal crosslinking proteins and cell adhesion proteins implicated in force sensing.
Jia Fei
Rutgers University-New Brunswick, NJ·Biochemistry
Characterize how NDF loosens nucleosomes, the protein spools that package DNA, and helps RNA Polymerase II move through them, using ultra-high-resolution optical tweezers and cryo-electron microscopy.
The school
University of Pennsylvania: 90 labs on PI Pages, $2.2B a year on research, 750 research doctorates a year.
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