Lagny

Thibaut Lagny

Catch-bond motors at the cytoskeleton-plasma membrane interface: Myosin 1 as a case study

The interface between the plasma membrane and the actin cytoskeleton is a fascinating place in the cell. Information from outside the cell is received and interpreted and converted into a response. These processes are dependent on the local environment, notably the structure of the underlying actin cortex and its intricate dynamics. Beyond this function in signaling, the interface is rich in membrane - actin linkers, that span a range of different protein families. My ultimate goal is to shed light on why these different proteins are all located at this interface, and right now I am trying to understand why motor proteins with peculiar mechanical behaviour (catch-bonds) are required at this interface. I employ different ways of probing the cortex-membrane interactions in ensemble so far and would like to start looking at a more detailed level, using single-molecule approaches to characterize receptor behavior.