Kai Bracey
Department: Cell & Developmental Biology
Faculty Mentor: Irina Kaverina, Ph.D.
Dissertation Description: Role of Microtubule Sliding in Glucose Stimulated Insulin Secretion
Organization of the microtubule network is necessary for precise cargo delivery and cells reorganize microtubules (MT) with the help of motor proteins such as kinesin. Conventional kinesins (also known as kinesin-1 or KIF5) function to transport cargoes along microtubules towards plus-ends. Several recent studies, uncovered a novel ‘unconventional’ function of kinesin-1 in sliding cytoplasmic microtubules against each other. As it is canonically believed that MTs serve as direct tracks for insulin granule transport to the cell periphery, preliminary data has shown MT sliding to be exacerbated in the presence of high glucose. Moreover, high glucose stimuli cause MT network rearrangement, which is critical for GSIS. The focus of my work is to elucidate the mechanisms of MT-dependent regulation downstream of glucose and discern what functional role MT sliding has in glucose stimulated insulin secretion.