Ronald D. Vale

Dynamics of myosin, microtubules, and Kinesin-6 at the cortex during cytokinesis in Drosophila S2 cells (2009)

Vale, Ronald D., Spudich, James A., Griffis, Eric R.

© The Authors, 2009 . This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. The definitive version was published in Journal...

THE JOURNAL OF CELL BIOLOGY Mechanism of transport of IFT particles in C. elegans cilia by the concerted action of kinesin-II and OSM-3 motors (2008)

Xiaoyu Pan, Guangshuo Ou, Gul Civelekoglu-scholey, Oliver E. Blacque, Nicholas F. Endres, Li Tao, ...

The assembly and function of cilia on Caenorhabditis elegans neurons depends on the action of two kinesin-2 motors, heterotrimeric kinesin-II and homodimeric OSM-3–kinesin, which cooperate to move...

Pharmacology Review (2008)

Ronald D. Vale

transport involves molecular motor proteins that carry cargo directionally along a cytoskeletal track (myosins along actin and kinesins and dyneins along microtu-Howard Hughes Medical Institute...

Drosophila Pod-1 Crosslinks Both Actin and Microtubules and Controls the Targeting of Axons (2008)

Michael E. Rothenberg, Stephen L. Rogers, Ronald D. Vale, Lily Yeh Jan

for guidance cues. Between the filopodia, veil-like membranous sheets, called lamellipodia, contain a complex branched network of actin filaments. Farther back from the lamellipodia, the central...

Augmin : a protein complex required for centrosome-independent microtubule generation within the spindle (2008)

Goshima, Gohta, Mayer, Mirjam, Zhang, Nan, Stuurman, Nico, Vale, Ronald D.

© 2008 Goshima et al. This article is distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons License (Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported license). The definitive version was published...

88 The Way Things Move: Looking Under the Hood of Molecular Motor Proteins (2008)

Ronald D. Vale, Ronald A. Milligan

The microtubule-based kinesin motors and actin-based myosin motors generate motions associated with intracellular trafficking, cell division, and muscle contraction. Early studies suggested that...

Augmin: a protein complex required for centrosome-independent microtubule generation within the spindle (2008)

Goshima, Gohta, Mayer, Mirjam, Zhang, Nan, Stuurman, Nico, Vale, Ronald D

Since the discovery of gamma-tubulin, attention has focused on its involvement as a microtubule nucleator at the centrosome. However, mislocalization of gamma-tubulin away from the centrosome does...

Augmin: a protein complex required for centrosome-independent microtubule generation within the spindle (2008)

Goshima, Gohta, Mayer, Mirjam, Zhang, Nan, Stuurman, Nico, Vale, Ronald D

Since the discovery of gamma-tubulin, attention has focused on its involvement as a microtubule nucleator at the centrosome. However, mislocalization of gamma-tubulin away from the centrosome does...

Autoinhibition regulates the motility of the C-elegans intraflagellar transport motor OSM-3 (2006)

Imanishi, M, Endres, N F, Gennerich, A, Vale, Ronald D

OSM-3 is a Kinesin-2 family member from Caenorhabditis elegans that is involved in intraflagellar transport (IFT), a process essential for the construction and maintenance of sensory cilia. In this...

Mechanism of transport of IFT particles in C-elegans cilia by the concerted action of kinesin-II and OSM-3 motors (2006)

Pan, X Y, Ou, G S, Civelekoglu-Scholey, G, Blacque, O E, Endres, N F, Tao, L, ...

The assembly and function of cilia on Caenorhabditis elegans neurons depends on the action of two kinesin-2 motors, heterotrimeric kinesin-II and homodimeric OSM-3-kinesin, which cooperate to move...

Single-molecule analysis of dynein processivity and stepping behavior (2006)

Reck-Peterson, S L, Yildiz, A, Carter, A P, Gennerich, A, Zhang, N, Vale, Ronald D

Cytoplasmic dynein, the 1.2 MDa motor driving minus-end-directed motility, has been reported to move processively along microtubules, but its mechanism of motility remains poorly understood. Here,...

Length control of the metaphase spindle (2005)

Goshima, Gohta, Wollman, Roy, Stuurman, Nico, Scholey, Jonathan M., Vale, Ronald D.

The pole-to-pole distance of the metaphase spindle is reasonably constant in a given cell type; in the case of vertebrate female oocytes, this steady state length can be maintained for substantial...

Length control of the metaphase spindle (2005)

Goshima, Gohta, Wollman, Roy, Stuurman, Nico, Scholey, Jonathan M., Vale, Ronald D.

Author Posting. © Elsevier B. V., 2005. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B. V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version...

Mechanism of Prion Propagation: Amyloid Growth Occurs by Monomer Addition (2004)

Sean R. Collins, Adam Douglass, Ronald D. Vale, Jonathan S. Weissman

Polymerization of the amyloidogenic yeast prion protein Sup35 occurs by monomer addition in a reaction distinct from formation of potentially toxic oligomeric intermediates.

Mechanism of Prion Propagation: Amyloid Growth Occurs by Monomer Addition (2004)

Sean R. Collins, Adam Douglass, Ronald D. Vale, Jonathan S. Weissman

Abundant nonfibrillar oligomeric intermediates are a common feature of amyloid formation, and these oligomers, rather than the final fibers, have been suggested to be the toxic species in some...

Engineering the processive run length of the kinesin motor (2000)

Kurt S. Thorn, Jeffrey A. Ubersax, Ronald D. Vale

Abstract. Conventional kinesin is a highly processive molecular motor that takes several hundred steps per encounter with a microtubule. Processive motility is believed to result from the...

The load dependence of kinesin’s mechanical cycle

Coppin, Chris M., Pierce, Daniel W., Hsu, Long, Vale, Ronald D.

Kinesin is a dimeric motor protein that transports organelles in a stepwise manner toward the plus-end of microtubules by converting the energy of ATP hydrolysis into mechanical work. External forces...

A Developmentally Regulated Kinesin-related Motor Protein from Dictyostelium discoideum

De Hostos, Eugenio L., McCaffrey, Gretchen, Sucgang, Richard, Pierce, Daniel W., Vale, Ronald D.

The cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum is an attractive system for studying the roles of microtubule-based motility in cell development and differentiation. In this work, we report the...

The myosin motor, Myo4p, binds Ash1 mRNA via the adapter protein, She3p

Takizawa, Peter A., Vale, Ronald D.

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, mRNA encoding the cell-fate determinant Ash1p is localized to the distal tip of daughter cells. Five SHE genes are required for proper Ash1 mRNA localization, one of...

Coordinate control of translation and localization of Vg1 mRNA in Xenopus oocytes

Wilhelm, James E., Vale, Ronald D., Hegde, Ramanujan S.

Vg1, a member of the transforming growth factor-β family involved in mesoderm induction, is translated subsequent to the localization of its mRNA to the vegetal pole of Xenopus oocytes. Whereas the...

The Khd1 protein, which has three KH RNA-binding motifs, is required for proper localization of ASH1 mRNA in yeast

Irie, Kenji, Tadauchi, Tomofumi, Takizawa, Peter A., Vale, Ronald D., Matsumoto, Kunihiro, Herskowitz, Ira

RNA localization is a widespread mechanism for achieving localized protein synthesis. In Saccharo myces cerevisiae, Ash1 is a specific repressor of transcription that localizes asymmetrically to the...

Mitochondrial positioning in fission yeast is driven by association with dynamic microtubules and mitotic spindle poles

Yaffe, Michael P., Stuurman, Nico, Vale, Ronald D.

Microtubules mediate mitochondrial distribution in the yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe and many higher eukaryotic cells. In higher eukaryotes, kinesin motor proteins have been shown to transport...

Molecular dissection of the roles of nucleotide binding and hydrolysis in dynein's AAA domains in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Reck-Peterson, Samara L., Vale, Ronald D.

The motor protein cytoplasmic dynein is responsible for most of the minus-end-directed microtubule traffic within cells. Dynein contains four evolutionarily conserved AAA (ATPase associated with...

The Lipid Binding Pleckstrin Homology Domain in UNC-104 Kinesin is Necessary for Synaptic Vesicle Transport in Caenorhabditis elegansD⃞V⃞

Klopfenstein, Dieter R., Vale, Ronald D.

UNC-104 (KIF1A) is a kinesin motor that transports synaptic vesicles from the neuronal cell body to the terminal. Previous in vitro studies have shown that a Dictyostelium relative of UNC-104...

Mechanism of Prion Propagation: Amyloid Growth Occurs by Monomer Addition

Collins, Sean R, Douglass, Adam, Vale, Ronald D, Weissman, Jonathan S

Abundant nonfibrillar oligomeric intermediates are a common feature of amyloid formation, and these oligomers, rather than the final fibers, have been suggested to be the toxic species in some...

Cell Cycle-dependent Dynamics and Regulation of Mitotic Kinesins in Drosophila S2 CellsD⃞

Goshima, Gohta, Vale, Ronald D.

Constructing a mitotic spindle requires the coordinated actions of several kinesin motor proteins. Here, we have visualized the dynamics of five green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged mitotic...

Distinct pathways control recruitment and maintenance of myosin II at the cleavage furrow during cytokinesis

Dean, Sara O., Rogers, Stephen L., Stuurman, Nico, Vale, Ronald D., Spudich, James A.

The correct localization of myosin II to the equatorial cortex is crucial for proper cell division. Here, we examine a collection of genes that cause defects in cytokinesis and reveal with live cell...

Use of RNA interference in Drosophila S2 cells to identify host pathways controlling compartmentalization of an intracellular pathogen

Cheng, Luisa W., Viala, Julie P. M., Stuurman, Nico, Wiedemann, Ursula, Vale, Ronald D., Portnoy, Daniel A.

Three genome-wide RNA interference screens were performed in Drosophila S2 cells to dissect the contribution of host processes to Listeria monocytogenes entry, vacuolar escape, and intracellular...

EPR Spectroscopy Shows a Microtubule-Dependent Conformational Change in the Kinesin Switch 1 Domain

Naber, Nariman, Rice, Sarah, Matuska, Marija, Vale, Ronald D., Cooke, Roger, Pate, Edward

We have used site-directed spin-labeling and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy to monitor a conformational change at the nucleotide site of kinesin. Cys-lite kinesin (K349 monomer) with...

The Affinity of the Dynein Microtubule-Binding Domain is Modulated by the Conformation of its Coiled-Coil Stalk*

Gibbons, I. R., Garbarino, Joan E., Tan, Carol E., Reck-Peterson, Samara L., Vale, Ronald D., Carter, Andrew P.

The microtubule binding domain (MTBD) of dynein is separated from the AAA core of the motor by an ~15 nm stalk that is predicted to consist of an anti-parallel coiled coil. However, the structure of...

Unbiased selection of localization elements reveals cis-acting determinants of mRNA bud localization in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Jambhekar, Ashwini, McDermott, Kimberly, Sorber, Katherine, Shepard, Kelly A., Vale, Ronald D., Takizawa, Peter A., ...

Cytoplasmic mRNA localization is a mechanism used by many organisms to generate asymmetry and sequester protein activity. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, mRNA transport to bud tips of dividing...

The load dependence of kinesin’s mechanical cycle

Coppin, Chris M., Pierce, Daniel W., Hsu, Long, Vale, Ronald D.

Kinesin is a dimeric motor protein that transports organelles in a stepwise manner toward the plus-end of microtubules by converting the energy of ATP hydrolysis into mechanical work. External forces...

A Developmentally Regulated Kinesin-related Motor Protein from Dictyostelium discoideum

De Hostos, Eugenio L., McCaffrey, Gretchen, Sucgang, Richard, Pierce, Daniel W., Vale, Ronald D.

The cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum is an attractive system for studying the roles of microtubule-based motility in cell development and differentiation. In this work, we report the...

The myosin motor, Myo4p, binds Ash1 mRNA via the adapter protein, She3p

Takizawa, Peter A., Vale, Ronald D.

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, mRNA encoding the cell-fate determinant Ash1p is localized to the distal tip of daughter cells. Five SHE genes are required for proper Ash1 mRNA localization, one of...

Coordinate control of translation and localization of Vg1 mRNA in Xenopus oocytes

Wilhelm, James E., Vale, Ronald D., Hegde, Ramanujan S.

Vg1, a member of the transforming growth factor-β family involved in mesoderm induction, is translated subsequent to the localization of its mRNA to the vegetal pole of Xenopus oocytes. Whereas the...

The Khd1 protein, which has three KH RNA-binding motifs, is required for proper localization of ASH1 mRNA in yeast

Irie, Kenji, Tadauchi, Tomofumi, Takizawa, Peter A., Vale, Ronald D., Matsumoto, Kunihiro, Herskowitz, Ira

RNA localization is a widespread mechanism for achieving localized protein synthesis. In Saccharo myces cerevisiae, Ash1 is a specific repressor of transcription that localizes asymmetrically to the...

Mitochondrial positioning in fission yeast is driven by association with dynamic microtubules and mitotic spindle poles

Yaffe, Michael P., Stuurman, Nico, Vale, Ronald D.

Microtubules mediate mitochondrial distribution in the yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe and many higher eukaryotic cells. In higher eukaryotes, kinesin motor proteins have been shown to transport...

Molecular dissection of the roles of nucleotide binding and hydrolysis in dynein's AAA domains in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Reck-Peterson, Samara L., Vale, Ronald D.

The motor protein cytoplasmic dynein is responsible for most of the minus-end-directed microtubule traffic within cells. Dynein contains four evolutionarily conserved AAA (ATPase associated with...

The Lipid Binding Pleckstrin Homology Domain in UNC-104 Kinesin is Necessary for Synaptic Vesicle Transport in Caenorhabditis elegansD⃞V⃞

Klopfenstein, Dieter R., Vale, Ronald D.

UNC-104 (KIF1A) is a kinesin motor that transports synaptic vesicles from the neuronal cell body to the terminal. Previous in vitro studies have shown that a Dictyostelium relative of UNC-104...

Mechanism of Prion Propagation: Amyloid Growth Occurs by Monomer Addition

Collins, Sean R, Douglass, Adam, Vale, Ronald D, Weissman, Jonathan S

Abundant nonfibrillar oligomeric intermediates are a common feature of amyloid formation, and these oligomers, rather than the final fibers, have been suggested to be the toxic species in some...

Cell Cycle-dependent Dynamics and Regulation of Mitotic Kinesins in Drosophila S2 CellsD⃞

Goshima, Gohta, Vale, Ronald D.

Constructing a mitotic spindle requires the coordinated actions of several kinesin motor proteins. Here, we have visualized the dynamics of five green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged mitotic...

Distinct pathways control recruitment and maintenance of myosin II at the cleavage furrow during cytokinesis

Dean, Sara O., Rogers, Stephen L., Stuurman, Nico, Vale, Ronald D., Spudich, James A.

The correct localization of myosin II to the equatorial cortex is crucial for proper cell division. Here, we examine a collection of genes that cause defects in cytokinesis and reveal with live cell...

Use of RNA interference in Drosophila S2 cells to identify host pathways controlling compartmentalization of an intracellular pathogen

Cheng, Luisa W., Viala, Julie P. M., Stuurman, Nico, Wiedemann, Ursula, Vale, Ronald D., Portnoy, Daniel A.

Three genome-wide RNA interference screens were performed in Drosophila S2 cells to dissect the contribution of host processes to Listeria monocytogenes entry, vacuolar escape, and intracellular...

Unbiased selection of localization elements reveals cis-acting determinants of mRNA bud localization in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Jambhekar, Ashwini, McDermott, Kimberly, Sorber, Katherine, Shepard, Kelly A., Vale, Ronald D., Takizawa, Peter A., ...

Cytoplasmic mRNA localization is a mechanism used by many organisms to generate asymmetry and sequester protein activity. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, mRNA transport to bud tips of dividing...

EPR Spectroscopy Shows a Microtubule-Dependent Conformational Change in the Kinesin Switch 1 Domain

Naber, Nariman, Rice, Sarah, Matuska, Marija, Vale, Ronald D., Cooke, Roger, Pate, Edward

We have used site-directed spin-labeling and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy to monitor a conformational change at the nucleotide site of kinesin. Cys-lite kinesin (K349 monomer) with...

Autoinhibition regulates the motility of the C. elegans intraflagellar transport motor OSM-3

Imanishi, Miki, Endres, Nicholas F., Gennerich, Arne, Vale, Ronald D.

OSM-3 is a Kinesin-2 family member from Caenorhabditis elegans that is involved in intraflagellar transport (IFT), a process essential for the construction and maintenance of sensory cilia. In this...

Mechanism of transport of IFT particles in C. elegans cilia by the concerted action of kinesin-II and OSM-3 motors

Pan, Xiaoyu, Ou, Guangshuo, Civelekoglu-Scholey, Gul, Blacque, Oliver E., Endres, Nicholas F., Tao, Li, ...

The assembly and function of cilia on Caenorhabditis elegans neurons depends on the action of two kinesin-2 motors, heterotrimeric kinesin-II and homodimeric OSM-3–kinesin, which cooperate to move...

Making more microtubules by severing: a common theme of noncentrosomal microtubule arrays?

Roll-Mecak, Antonina, Vale, Ronald D.

Two related enzymes, katanin and spastin, use the energy from ATP hydrolysis to sever microtubules. Two new studies (one in this issue; see McNally et al., p. 881) show that microtubule severing by...

Spindly, a novel protein essential for silencing the spindle assembly checkpoint, recruits dynein to the kinetochore

Griffis, Eric R., Stuurman, Nico, Vale, Ronald D.

The eukaryotic spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) monitors microtubule attachment to kinetochores and prevents anaphase onset until all kinetochores are aligned on the metaphase plate. In higher...

A standardized kinesin nomenclature

Lawrence, Carolyn J., Dawe, R. Kelly, Christie, Karen R., Cleveland, Don W., Dawson, Scott C., Endow, Sharyn A., ...

In recent years the kinesin superfamily has become so large that several different naming schemes have emerged, leading to confusion and miscommunication. Here, we set forth a standardized kinesin...

Mechanisms for focusing mitotic spindle poles by minus end–directed motor proteins

Goshima, Gohta, Nédélec, François, Vale, Ronald D.

During the formation of the metaphase spindle in animal somatic cells, kinetochore microtubule bundles (K fibers) are often disconnected from centrosomes, because they are released from centrosomes...

Structural determinants for EB1-mediated recruitment of APC and spectraplakins to the microtubule plus end

Slep, Kevin C., Rogers, Stephen L., Elliott, Sarah L., Ohkura, Hiroyuki, Kolodziej, Peter A., Vale, Ronald D.

EB1 is a member of a conserved protein family that localizes to growing microtubule plus ends. EB1 proteins also recruit cell polarity and signaling molecules to microtubule tips. However, the...

A tribute to Shinya Inoue and innovation in light microscopy

Dell, Karen R., Vale, Ronald D.

The 2003 International Prize for Biology was awarded to Shinya Inoue for his pioneering work in visualizing dynamic processes within living cells using the light microscope. He and his scientific...

Role of the Kinesin Neck Region in Processive Microtubule-based Motility

Romberg, Laura, Pierce, Daniel W., Vale, Ronald D.

Kinesin is a dimeric motor protein that can move along a microtubule for several microns without releasing (termed processive movement). The two motor domains of the dimer are thought to move in a...

Rapid Movements of Vimentin on Microtubule Tracks: Kinesin-dependent Assembly of Intermediate Filament Networks

Prahlad, Veena, Yoon, Miri, Moir, Robert D., Vale, Ronald D., Goldman, Robert D.

The assembly and maintenance of an extended intermediate filament (IF) network in fibroblasts requires microtubule (MT) integrity. Using a green fluorescent protein–vimentin construct, and...

Reconstitution of Membrane Transport Powered by a Novel Dimeric Kinesin Motor of the Unc104/Kif1a Family Purified from Dictyostelium

Pollock, Nira, De Hostos, Eugenio L., Turck, Christoph W., Vale, Ronald D.

Motor-powered movement along microtubule tracks is important for membrane organization and trafficking. However, the molecular basis for membrane transport is poorly understood, in part because of...

Molecular requirements for actin-based lamella formation in Drosophila S2 cells

Rogers, Stephen L., Wiedemann, Ursula, Stuurman, Nico, Vale, Ronald D.

Cell migration occurs through the protrusion of the actin-enriched lamella. Here, we investigated the effects of RNAi depletion of ∼90 proteins implicated in actin function on lamella formation in...

The roles of microtubule-based motor proteins in mitosis: comprehensive RNAi analysis in the Drosophila S2 cell line

Goshima, Gohta, Vale, Ronald D.

Kinesins and dyneins play important roles during cell division. Using RNA interference (RNAi) to deplete individual (or combinations of) motors followed by immunofluorescence and time-lapse...

Drosophila EB1 is important for proper assembly, dynamics, and positioning of the mitotic spindle

Rogers, Stephen L., Rogers, Gregory C., Sharp, David J., Vale, Ronald D.

EB1 is an evolutionarily conserved protein that localizes to the plus ends of growing microtubules. In yeast, the EB1 homologue (BIM1) has been shown to modulate microtubule dynamics and link...

Myosin V motor proteins: marching stepwise towards a mechanism

Vale, Ronald D.

Mammalian myosin V motors transport cargo processively along actin filaments. Recent biophysical and structural studies have led to a detailed understanding of the mechanism of myosin V, making it...

Distinct conformations of the kinesin Unc104 neck regulate a monomer to dimer motor transition

Al-Bassam, Jawdat, Cui, Yujia, Klopfenstein, Dieter, Carragher, Bridget O., Vale, Ronald D., Milligan, Ronald A.

Caenhorhabditis elegans Unc104 kinesin transports synaptic vesicles at rapid velocities. Unc104 is primarily monomeric in solution, but recent motility studies suggest that it may dimerize when...

Engineering the Processive Run Length of the Kinesin Motor

Thorn, Kurt S., Ubersax, Jeffrey A., Vale, Ronald D.

Conventional kinesin is a highly processive molecular motor that takes several hundred steps per encounter with a microtubule. Processive motility is believed to result from the coordinated,...

Controlling Kinesin by Reversible Disulfide Cross-Linking: Identifying the Motility-Producing Conformational Change

Tomishige, Michio, Vale, Ronald D.

Conventional kinesin, a dimeric molecular motor, uses ATP-dependent conformational changes to move unidirectionally along a row of tubulin subunits on a microtubule. Two models have been advanced for...

Isolation of a Ribonucleoprotein Complex Involved in mRNA Localization in Drosophila Oocytes

Wilhelm, James E., Mansfield, Jennifer, Hom-Booher, Nora, Wang, Shengxian, Turck, Christoph W., Hazelrigg, Tulle, ...

Localization of bicoid (bcd) mRNA to the anterior and oskar (osk) mRNA to the posterior of the Drosophila oocyte is critical for embryonic patterning. Previous genetic studies implicated exuperantia...

Mechanisms for segregating T cell receptor and adhesion molecules during immunological synapse formation in Jurkat T cells

Kaizuka, Yoshihisa, Douglass, Adam D., Varma, Rajat, Dustin, Michael L., Vale, Ronald D.

T cells interacting with antigen-presenting cells (APCs) form an “immunological synapse” (IS), a bull's-eye pattern composed of a central supramolecular activation cluster enriched with T cell...

Regulatory ATPase Sites of Cytoplasmic Dynein Affect Processivity and Force Generation*S⃞

Cho, Carol, Reck-Peterson, Samara L., Vale, Ronald D.

The heavy chain of cytoplasmic dynein contains four nucleotide-binding domains referred to as AAA1–AAA4, with the first domain (AAA1) being the main ATP hydrolytic site. Although previous studies...

Augmin: a protein complex required for centrosome-independent microtubule generation within the spindle

Goshima, Gohta, Mayer, Mirjam, Zhang, Nan, Stuurman, Nico, Vale, Ronald D.

Since the discovery of γ-tubulin, attention has focused on its involvement as a microtubule nucleator at the centrosome. However, mislocalization of γ-tubulin away from the centrosome does not...

Regulation of the processivity and intracellular localization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae dynein by dynactin

Kardon, Julia R., Reck-Peterson, Samara L., Vale, Ronald D.

Dynactin, a large multisubunit complex, is required for intracellular transport by dynein; however, its cellular functions and mechanism of action are not clear. Prior studies suggested that dynactin...

The augmin complex plays a critical role in spindle microtubule generation for mitotic progression and cytokinesis in human cells

Uehara, Ryota, Nozawa, Ryu-suke, Tomioka, Akiko, Petry, Sabine, Vale, Ronald D., Obuse, Chikashi, ...

The mitotic spindle is constructed from microtubules (MTs) nucleated from centrosomes, chromosome proximal regions, and preexisting spindle MTs. Augmin, a recently identified protein complex, is a...

The biological sciences in India: Aiming high for the future

Vale, Ronald D., Dell, Karen

India is gearing up to become an international player in the life sciences, powered by its recent economic growth and a desire to add biotechnology to its portfolio. In this article, we present the...

Molecular signatures of cell migration in C. elegans Q neuroblasts

Ou, Guangshuo, Vale, Ronald D.

Metazoan cell movement has been studied extensively in vitro, but cell migration in living animals is much less well understood. In this report, we have studied the Caenorhabditis elegans Q...

The coreceptor CD2 uses plasma membrane microdomains to transduce signals in T cells

Kaizuka, Yoshihisa, Douglass, Adam D., Vardhana, Santosh, Dustin, Michael L., Vale, Ronald D.

The interaction between a T cell and an antigen-presenting cell (APC) can trigger a signaling response that leads to T cell activation. Prior studies have shown that ligation of the T cell receptor...

Dynamics of myosin, microtubules, and Kinesin-6 at the cortex during cytokinesis in Drosophila S2 cells

Vale, Ronald D., Spudich, James A., Griffis, Eric R.

Multiple mitotic motors coordinate their signals to ensure that the actomyosin contractile ring forms in the right place during cytokinesis.

It's a Wonderful Life: A Career as an Academic Scientist

Vale, Ronald D.

Many years of training are required to obtain a job as an academic scientist. Is this investment of time and effort worthwhile? My answer is a resounding “yes.” Academic scientists enjoy...

Altered Actin Centripetal Retrograde Flow in Physically Restricted Immunological Synapses

Yu, Cheng-han, Wu, Hung-Jen, Kaizuka, Yoshihisa, Vale, Ronald D., Groves, Jay T.

Antigen recognition by T cells involves large scale spatial reorganization of numerous receptor, adhesion, and costimulatory proteins within the T cell-antigen presenting cell (APC) junction. The...