10/2 – Luke Rice, UT Southwestern Medical Center
Biomedical Engineering Seminar
October 2, 2026
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location
BME Seminar in SEO 236
Address
851 S Morgan St, Chicago, IL 60607
Calendar
Download iCal FileSpeaker:
Luke Rice, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Biophysics
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Title: Microtubule transitions and how to regulate them
Abstract: Microtubules are dynamic polymers of αβ-tubulin that orchestrate the movement and segregation of chromosomes and that provide tracks for motor-based transport of cargo. Dynamic instability, the apparently random and GTPase-dependent switching between phases of growing and shrinking, is central to microtubule function. Despite substantial progress over many years, there are still unresolved questions about the fundamental mechanisms of microtubule dynamics and regulation. I will discuss computational and experimental work from my group that is providing new insights about the molecular determinants of catastrophe (switch from growing to shrinking) and rescue (switch from shrinking to growing) and showing how cellular factors can regulate them. The work emphasizes the previously overlooked importance of nucleotide exchange in microtubule dynamics, and establishes GEF activity as the basis for a major microtubule regulator.
Host: Dr. Ao Ma
Date posted
Aug 31, 2026
Date updated
Aug 31, 2026