Quantitative live cell imaging of vimentin network assembly and regulation

长期目标

Long Term Objectives Our long term goal is to understand the dynamics of vimentin IF (VIF) network assembly and its roles in cytoskeleton organization and regulation of cell morphology. Because of the complex feedback interactions between the organization of VIFs, actin/microfilaments (MFs) and microtubules (MTs) the assembly process has to be analyzed by in situ imaging of the full spectrum of VIF dynamics in the context of the dynamics of these other cytoskeletal systems. Moreover, the imaging has to be sufficiently sensitive to reveal effects of precise perturbations of VIF regulation that do not massively disrupt cell function. The following are our plans for probing the processes of VIF network assembly and regulation by quantitative live cell imaging experiments: