The Ross Lab studies how the microtubule cytoskeleton organizes the interior of living cells. Cells completely remodel their interior structures during cell division and differentiation - both vital processes for organismal development, maturation, and maintenance. The microtubule cytoskeleton has two roles in this process: first the microtubule network itself is a mechanical structure that supports the shape and organization within cells, second microtubules are the tracks used for long-distance intracellular transport by molecular motor proteins that move organelles and protein cargos in the cell.

Correct microtubule organization is essential to manny cellular processes: cell division, neuronal cell development, differentiation, and maintenance, plant cell cellulose deposition, and ciliary beating in the lungs, kidneys, and intestines. Failure to create the correct microtubule network in these processes results in cancer and birth defects, brain abnormalities and neuromuscular diseases, fragile plants, tumors and cell death. We use bottom-up reconstitution techniques and cutting-edge super-resolution single molecule imaging to systematically dissect the underlying physical principles governing microtubule organization to address this large number of essential cellular processes.

In addition to its biological importance, the microtubule cytoskeleton, including the binding partners, motor proteins, and enzymatic regulators, is a fascinating non-equilibrium system. We are interested in how microtubules organize into patterns found in the cell, and how they can create novel patterns that may have uses for active biomaterial systems and to purely enhance our understanding of the fundamental non-equilibrium physics controlling energetic biological systems.