The actin cytoskeleton drives essential cellular processes such as motility, division, and intracellular transport. These functions arise from tightly regulated remodeling of actin networks orchestrated by a large number of actin-binding and signaling proteins. Actin-based motility is also implicated in disease, including cancer cell migration during metastasis and pathogen invasion.

Our lab studies the molecular mechanisms underlying cytoskeletal function, with a focus on processes such as actin nucleation, elongation, filament branching, and the interconnection between the cytoskeleton and cellular membranes. We use cryo-EM and X-ray crystallography to obtain atomic-resolution structures, complemented by biochemical, biophysical, cellular, and computational approaches to connect structure to function.

 

Contact us:

Roberto Dominguez, Ph.D.
Department of Physiology
University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
728 Clinical Research Building
415 Curie Blvd.
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6085, USA

E-mail:
Phone (office):
Phone (lab):
Fax:

droberto - at - pennmedicine . upenn . edu
215-573-4559
215-573-0983
215-573-2273