This award will establish a Research Training Group in Cytoskeleton Biology at the University of Minnesota. The faculty group includes members of the departments of Cell Biology and Neuroanatomy, Genetics and Cell Biology, Biochemistry, and Plant Biology. The funds awarded will provide stipends for graduate students and postdoctoral trainees, will support research participation by undergraduate students and high school students, and will defray part of the cost of the trainees' research. In addition, funds will be used to purchase specialized research equipment to be used by trainees and to bring investigators from other research and academic institutions to the campus for seminars and bi-annual symposia. University resources will augment the funds provided by NSF in most of these categories. The cytoplasm of all eukaryotic cells contains a dynamic, fibrous network of actin filaments, microtubules and intermediate filaments that participate in virtually every aspect of cellular form and function. Because of the cytoskeleton's ubiquity and its role in cellular processes as diverse as gene expression, cell replication and division, and cell movement, studies of the cytoskeleton provide an excellent focus for multidisciplinary training in at the forefront of modern biology.
