# CYTOSKELETAL AND SIGNALING MECHANISMS REGULATING CILIARY TRAFFIC

> **NIH NIH R35** · DARTMOUTH COLLEGE · 2021 · $410,000

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
A fundamental question in cell biology is how targeted intracellular protein trafficking is achieved and
regulated. An excellent framework to ask this question is to study transport to a specific organelle or intracellular
compartment. Trafficking of proteins to and into the eukaryotic flagellum is an ideal model to study polarized
transport given that flagellar protein synthesis and trafficking can be induced experimentally on-demand, cargo
proteins have been identified through proteomics and the ultimate cargo destination is localized to a very small
region at the apical cell surface. This trafficking pathway was previously thought to only require microtubules
and the regulation of microtubule motors through signaling pathways. Through quantitative analysis of flagellar
motor dynamics in the canonical flagellar model system Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, we discovered that actin and
an actin-based myosin motor play an important role in regulating the localization and compartmentalization of
flagellar proteins. We also identified a variety of signaling pathways including a phosphatase, MKP-2, that are
required for proper flagellar assembly. The broad goals of our work are to: 1) use chemical and genetic screening
to identify novel pathways that integrate to control flagellar protein trafficking and molecular motors flagellar
entry; and 2) use a toolbox of cellular and molecular assays to dissect the mechanisms by which they exert this
control. We expect to uncover entirely new avenues for the study of secretory pathways conserved in all
eukaryotes as well as novel functions for known genes in coordinated cellular trafficking.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10237414
- **Project number:** 5R35GM128702-04
- **Recipient organization:** DARTMOUTH COLLEGE
- **Principal Investigator:** PRACHEE AVASTHI
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $410,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-01 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10237414

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10237414, CYTOSKELETAL AND SIGNALING MECHANISMS REGULATING CILIARY TRAFFIC (5R35GM128702-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10237414. Licensed CC0.

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