Understanding and reprogramming axonal transport with protein design

Project Code

MRCNMH26Br Cross

Project Type

Wet lab

Research Theme

Neuroscience and Mental Health

Project Summary Download

Summary

Intracellular transport is essential for organising and maintaining the function of eukaryotic cells. This is particularly important in neurons, where cargo must be moved efficiently over long distances. Transport is driven by kinesin and dynein motor proteins which travel along microtubules to deliver organelles, proteins, and RNAs to precise locations. Disruption of this system is linked to numerous neurological disorders. This PhD will design synthetic protein modulators to achieve acute, isoform specific control of kinesin 1 activity in cells. Precise modulation of kinesin-1 will offer mechanistic insights into neurodegenerative transport defects and may offer routes to new classes of therapeutics.

Lead Supervisor

Dr Jessica Cross

Lead Supervisor Email

jessica.cross@bristol.ac.uk

University Affiliation

Bristol