Kendrick Lab
Principal Investigator: Agnieszka Anastazja Kendrick
Institution: Salk Institute for Biological Studies (La Jolla, CA)
Primary Subfield: Molecular & Cell Bio
Recruitment Status: ✅ Accepting PhD Students ✅ Hiring Postdocs
Research Focus
PROJECT SUMMARY The cytoskeleton is a dynamic network of filamentous structures, including microtubules and actin, that regulate essential cellular processes such as cell shape, growth, and signaling. Cytoskeleton also serves as tracks for molecular motors, which transport a variety of cellular cargoes, including organelles, macromolecules, and vesicles. These cargoes are linked to motors by specialized connector proteins. Disruptions in connector proteins are implicated in a range of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases, as well as cancers. Despite their importance, these proteins continue to be understudied, primarily due to their perceived role as passive linkers and the technical challenges in working with them. However, recent discoveries suggest that connector proteins may play more active roles, in some cases even have enzymatic functions. This proposal aims to uncover mechanisms of connector protein functions through a detailed investigation of actin-microtubule and motor-cargo interactions. Actin and microtubules are linked by the spectraplakin family of large and evolutionarily conserved proteins, critical for neuronal development and differentiation. Recent…
Active NIH Awards
- 1R35GM165848-01: Cytoskeletal connectors: Deciphering the fundamental mechanisms of cytoskeletal dynamics and transport (2026)
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