My laboratory has made significant contributions towards understanding the mechanism of cytoplasmic dynein, a dimeric motor responsible for minus-end directed motility along microtubules. We showed that, unlike kinesin and myosin motors, a dynein dimer moves without coordination between the monomers and follows a helical trajectory around microtubules. We presented a robust mechanistic model of dynein motility and force generation, and identified a unique ATPase site that repurposes dynein for different cellular functions. We also showed that the mammalian dynein-dynactin complex is a strong opponent of plus-end directed kinesins, and multiple dyneins team up more efficiently than kinesins during bidirectional cargo transport.

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