Naomi Courtemanche
University of Minnesota, MN·Biochemistry
Cells hold their shape, move, divide and carry cargo using actin, a protein that links into long filaments. These filaments are bundled into specialized structures that make up part of the cytoskeleton, the cell's internal scaffold.
- Fields
Biochemistry
Biophysics
Biology
- Topics
formins
actin
cytoskeleton
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Nov 2026
What they work on
- Determine the mechanism that lets formins, proteins that both start and lengthen actin filaments, adjust their polymerization activity across isoforms, using biophysical measurements.
- Test how formin-mediated filament elongation affects the binding of bundling proteins and the assembly of bundled actin structures, combining biophysical and cell biological approaches.
- Measure how filament nucleation, elongation and turnover jointly control the dynamics of specialized actin structures, and how different formin isoforms tune them.
More about the research
Formins are a family of proteins that start new actin filaments and speed their growth. Mammals make 15 versions of formin, each with its own assembly properties and its own job in cells. Mutations in individual formin genes are linked to neurological disorders, kidney disease, microcephaly (an abnormally small head and brain), heart muscle disease and several cancers. How each formin's activity is tuned to build one particular actin structure remains unknown.
Why it matters
Mutations in formin genes are associated with neurological disorders, microcephaly, kidney disease, dilated cardiomyopathy (an enlarged, weakened heart) and cancer. Linking each formin's physical properties to its biological role could provide a molecular basis for understanding these conditions, and could clarify the many cellular processes formins regulate, including division, motility and intracellular transport.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Thomas Sladewski
University of Connecticut, CT·Biophysics
Characterize the biophysical properties of MyoH, a Toxoplasma gondii myosin motor protein, and determine whether its force generation is required for extrusion of the conoid, the parasite's invasion organelle.
Sarah Heissler
Ohio State University, OH·Biochemistry
Determine the enzymatic profile of myosin-3 motors, kinase-myosin hybrid proteins, and how their activity is regulated, using biochemical and biophysical measurements on purified proteins.
Alison Patteson
Syracuse University, NY·Biophysics·Early-career
Determine how vimentin intermediate filaments control the shape and deformability of the nucleus as cells squeeze through confined 3D spaces.
The school
University of Minnesota: 88 labs on PI Pages, $1.4B a year on research, 722 research doctorates a year.
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