Edwin Taylor
Title: Research Professor
Research area: Molecular Motors and Motility
Degree: Ph.D.
Voice: 312-503-2675
Fax: 312-503-7912
e-mail: e-taylor3@northwestern.edu

Detailed research description:
We study the mechanism of molecular motors, myosin with actin and kinesin with microtubules. The objective is to show how the steps in the kinetic mechanism determine the structural changes, which produce force and motion.

To dissect the steps in the system mutant kinesins, expressed in bacteria, are studied in which a step in the mechanism is blocked. The results are correlated with the structure of the protein and its motility properties determined by in vitro assay.

Representative publications:

Kinetic Mechanism of a Monomeric Kinesin Construct,
  Y. Z. Ma and E. W. Taylor, J. Biol.Chem. 272,
  717-723, 1997.

Interacting Head Mechanism of Microtubule-Kinesin
  ATPase Y. Z. Ma and E. W Taylor, J. Biol Chem.
  272, 724-730, 1997.

Kinetic Mechanism of Monomeric Non-claret Disjunctional
  Protein (Ncd) ATPase E Pechatnikova and E. W. Taylor
  J. Biol. Chem.272, 30735-30740, 1997.