Achievement

The trafficking of cargo in cells involves specific molecular machineries that assemble at membranes and reshape them into transport vesicles. Andrew Loftus is interested in the physical mechanisms by which these protein assemblies work, and in mimicking them to create new dynamic structures. They have shown that a key protein associated with intracellular cargo trafficking, Sar1, lowers the mechanical rigidity of lipid bilayers. This is the first investigation of a trafficking protein creating a softening of membranes and shows interesting curvature coupling properties. Loftus has been looking to create a modified Sar1 protein to incorporate a biotin tagging motif to be able to create bioconjugates associated with Sar1. By creating a Sar1-biotin modified protein, they were successful in creating a protein-streptavidin scaffold.