Research Spotlight: Richard Dickinson
 Professor
Dickinson's recent research, performed in collaboration with UF Professor
Dan Purich from Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, has led to the discovery of a
fundamentally new biomolecular motor-based mechanism for force generation by
actin or microtubule polymerization during active cell movements. This
broadly-relevant finding, which goes to the heart of how cells convert chemical
energy to mechanical work in cell crawling and cell division, is revolutionizing
the conventional views about intracellular filament assembly and force
generation. The impact of this work is evident from the opinions of other
experts in the field. A review article (Desjardins & Griffiths, Curr Opin
Cell Biol. 15:498-503, 2003) described Dr. Dickinson's ideas as “ingenious”,
an “important conceptual advance”, and “an important breakthrough for the whole
field of actin assembly”. Anonymous expert reviewers described one of Dr.
Dickinson's five recent publications (below) in this area as offering "a
fascinating, and necessary, new alternative model for membrane force generation
by actin polymers", and as an “outstanding contribution to the field" that "will
play an important role in advancing the field of cell motility”.
Publications
Dickinson. R. B. and D. L. Purich. “Diffusion rate limitations in actin-based
propulsion of hard and deformable particles.” Biophysical Journal, in
press (2006).
Zeile, W. L., Zhang, F, Dickinson, R. B., and D. L. Purich. “Listeria's
Right-Handed Helical Rocket-tail Trajectories: Mechanistic Implications for
Force Generation in Actin-Based Motility.” Cell Motil Cytoskeleton.
60(2):121-8. (2005).
Dickinson, R. B., Caro. L. and D. L. Purich. “Force Generation by Cytoskeletal
Filament End-Tracking Proteins.” Biophysical Journal. 87:2838-2854
(2004).
Dickinson, R. B., Southwick, F. and D. L. Purich. “A direct-transfer
polymerization mechanism explains how the multiple profilin binding sites in the
actoclampin motor promote rapid motility.” Archives Biochem. & Biophys J.,
406:296-301 (2002).
Dickinson, R. B. and D. L. Purich. “A clamped-filament elongation model for
actin-based motors.” Biophysical J. 85:605-617 (2002).
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