The Xu Lab
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Mechanical Transport by Molecular Motors:

how do we control traffic in cells?
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Defective road condition impact motor traffic.
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We study team work by molecular motors, as controlled by:
  • road condition (MT structural defect, disease-relevant roadblock),
  • motor number,
  • chemical energy (ATP), 
  • mechanical coupling between motors (biomemetic lipid membrane).
      Road condition:  
"Single Molecule Investigation of Kinesin-1 Motility Using Engineered Microtubule Defects",  M.W. Gramlich, L. Conway, W.H. Liang, J.A. Labastide, S.J. King, J. Xu*, J.L. Ross* (2017)
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"Impact of microtubule defect on kinesin-based transport",  W. Liang, Q. Li, K M Faysal, S.J. King, A. Gopinathan, J. Xu, Biophys. J., 110, 2229 (2016) PDF


"Interplay between Velocity and Travel Distance of Kinesin-based Transport in the Presence of Tau",  Biophys. J., 105, L23 (2013) PDF

      Motor number:   
​"Quantitative Determination of the Probability of Multiple-Motor Transport in Bead-Based Assays",  Q. Li, S.J. King, A. Gopinathan, J. Xu, Biophys. J., 111, 2720 (2016)​  PDF      

"Cooperative Protofilament Switching Emerges from Inter-Motor Interference in Multiple-Motor Transport", Sci. Rep., 4, 7255 (2014) 
Jounal Link

      Chemical energy:   
"Tuning Multiple Motor Travel Via Single Motor Velocity", Traffic, 13, 1198 (2012) PDF, Supplement  

Active Matter, Self-Assembly
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"around the world, around the world"
Crowd surfing polymers loop onto themselves.
"Understanding the role of transport velocity in biomotor-powered microtubule spool assembly",  
​A.J. Tan, D.E. Chapman, L.S. Hirst, J. Xu, RSC Adv., 6, 79143 (2016)  Journal Link ​ 
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