This award will support a two-year collaborative research project between Professor Emil Reisler of the University of California, Los Angeles, and Professor Kazuo Sutoh of the University of Tokyo. The objectives of the project are to clarify the mechanism of actomyosin interactions by mapping actomyosin binding sites in the presence and absence of ATP and to identify structural determinants of actin's function in force generation and motility. It is anticipated that this research will contribute to the understanding of biological energy transduction processes. The group at the University of Tokyo will generate a large number of Dictyostelium actin mutants, particularly in subdomains I and II of actin, and will test these mutants for actomyosin ATPase activity, in vitro motility, and force generation functions. The UCLA group will carry out in depth biochemical analysis of actin mutants with altered or impaired functional properties. In addition to the principal investigator, a graduate student and a postdoctoral fellow will each visit Japan for an extended period to participate in the project.
