My lab focuses on the force generating mechanisms of kinesins and their microtubule tracks. We are trying to understand the molecular mechanisms of mechanochemical coupling. These mechanisms drive much of the self-organisation behaviour of eukaryotic cells and understanding them is important both for fundamental science and for the development of improved chemical biology approaches to a range of important medical and agricultural problems. My Google Scholar profile is here: http://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?hl=en&user=_iaVZaQAAAAJ
I did my PhD work at Nottingham and my postdoctoral training as an EMBO Fellow with Vic Small at the IMB in Salzburg and as an MDA Fellow with John Kendrick Jones at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, working on the myosin II mechanism. In 1991 I left MRC-LMB to set up a lab at the Marie Curie Research Institute to work on kinesin molecular motors, which were then newly-discovered. In 2005, after a long period of development, Nick Carter and I published single molecule optical trapping experiments showing that kinesin-1 can be driven to walk backwards (doi: 10.1038/nature03528). In 2007 we described the ATP-gating mechanism that controls the walking action of kinesin-1 (doi: 10.1126/science.1136985). In 2010 I moved with a group of younger colleagues to Warwick Medical School to found a new Centre for Mechanochemical Cell Biology (CMCB), aiming to integrate biophysical and cell biological approaches to the mechanisms of life. The CMCB now hosts 17 science groups from 4 Warwick departments (http://mechanochemistry.org). An important part of our mission is to train the next generation of scientists. I direct Warwick's new MSci Integrated Science which we define as the course our instructors, who are all successful scientists, all wish they could have done as undergraduates. In Oct 2014, I became a Wellcome Investigator, and have used this opportunity to focus the lab more tightly around its core long-term interest of kinesin-microtubule interaction mechanisms. We continue to build our own microscopes, and have an innovative open hardware project in super resolution microscopy and optical trapping, the WOSM (http://wosmic.org).
- Chew, Yean Ming, Cross, Robert A., 2023. Taxol acts differently on different tubulin isotypes. Communications Biology, 6
- Chew, Yean Ming, Cross, Robert A., 2020. Molecular motors : Kif14's disordered dongle. Current Biology, 30 (17), pp. R988-R991
- Toleikis, Algirdas, Carter, Nicholas J., Cross, Robert A., 2020. Backstepping mechanism of kinesin-1. Biophysical Journal, 119 (10), pp. 1984-1994
- Cross, Robert A., 2019. Microtubule lattice plasticity. Current Opinion in Cell Biology, 56, pp. 88-93
- von Loeffelholz, Ottilie, Peña, Alejandro, Drummond, Douglas R., Cross, R. A., Moores, Carolyn Ann, 2019. Cryo-EM structure (4.5-Å) of yeast Kinesin-5?microtubule complex reveals a distinct binding footprint and mechanism of drug resistance. Journal of Molecular Biology, 431 (4), pp. 864-872
- Peet, Daniel R., Burroughs, Nigel John, Cross, R. A., 2018. Kinesin expands and stabilizes the GDP-microtubule lattice. Nature Nanotechnology, 13 (5), pp. 386-391
- Meadows, John C., Messin, Liam J., Kamnev, Anton, Lancaster, Theresa C., Balasubramanian, Mohan K., Cross, Robert A., Millar, Jonathan BA, 2018. Opposing kinesin complexes queue at plus tips to ensure microtubule catastrophe at cell ends. EMBO reports, 19 (11)
- McHugh, Toni, Drechsler, Hauke, McAinsh, Andrew D., Carter, Nicholas J., Cross, R. A., 2018. Kif15 functions as an active mechanical ratchet. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 29 (4), pp. 1743-1752
- von Loeffelholz, Ottilie, Venables, Neil A., Drummond, Douglas R., Katsuki, Miho, Cross, R. A., Moores, Carolyn A., 2017. Nucleotide? and Mal3-dependent changes in fission yeast microtubules suggest a structural plasticity view of dynamics. Nature Communications, 8 (1)
- Huang, Junqi, Chew, Ting Gang, Gu, Ying, Palani, Saravanan, Kamnev, Anton, Martin, Douglas S., Carter, Nicholas J., Cross, R. A., Oliferenko, Snezhana, Balasubramanian, Mohan K., 2016. Curvature-induced expulsion of actomyosin bundles during cytokinetic ring contraction. eLife, 5
- Britto, Mishan, Goulet, Adeline, Rizvi, Syeda, von Loeffelholz, Ottilie, Moores, Carolyn A., Cross, R. A., 2016. Schizosaccharomyces pombe kinesin-5 switches direction using a steric blocking mechanism. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 113 (47), pp. E7483-E7489
- Andrecka, Joanna, Ortega Arroyo, Jaime, Lewis, Katie, Cross, R. A., Kukura, Philipp, 2016. Label-free imaging of microtubules with sub-nm precision using interferometric scattering microscopy. Biophysical Journal, 110 (1), pp. 214-217
- Cross, R. A., 2016. Mechanochemistry of the kinesin-1 ATPase. Biopolymers, 105 (8), pp. 476-482
- Hussmann, Frauke, Drummond, Douglas R., Peet, Daniel R., Martin, Douglas S., Cross, R. A., 2015. Alp7/TACC-Alp14/TOG generates long-lived, fast-growing MTs by an unconventional mechanism. Scientific Reports, 6
- Klejnot, Marta, Falnikar, Aditi, Ulaganathan, Venkatasubramanian, Cross, R. A., Baas, Peter W., Kozielski, Frank, 2014. The crystal structure and biochemical characterization of Kif15: a bifunctional molecular motor involved in bipolar spindle formation and neuronal development. Acta Crystallographica Section D Biological Crystallography, 70 (1), pp. 123-133
- Cross, R. A., McAinsh, Andrew D., 2014. Prime movers : mechanochemistry of mitotic kinesins. Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, 15, pp. 257-271
- Katsuki, Miho, Drummond, Douglas R., Cross, R. A., 2014. Ectopic A-lattice seams destabilize microtubules. Nature Communications, 5
- Kaseda, Kuniyoshi, McAinsh, Andrew D., Cross, R. A., 2012. Dual pathway spindle assembly increases both the speed and the fidelity of mitosis. Biology Open, Vol.1 (No.1), pp. 12-18
- Erent, Muriel, Drummond, Douglas R., Cross, R. A., 2012. S. pombe kinesins-8 promote both nucleation and catastrophe of microtubules. PLoS One, Vol.7 (No.2)
- Carter, Nicholas J., Cross, R. A., 2012. Kinesin backsteps. Biochemical Society Transactions, Vol.40 (No.2), pp. 400-403
- Drummond, Douglas R., Kain, Susan, Newcombe, Anthony, Hoey, Christina, Katsuki, Miho, Cross, R. A., 2011. Purification of tubulin from the fission yeast schizosaccharomyces pombe. Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.), Vol.777, pp. 29-55
- Cross, R. A., McAinsh, Andrew D., Straube, Anne, 2011. Mechanochemical cell biology. Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology, Vol.22 (No.9), pp. 913-915
- Grant, Barry J., Gheorghe, Dana M., Zheng, Wenjun, Alonso, M. (Maria), Huber, Gary, Dlugosz, Maciej, McCammon, J. Andrew, Cross, R. A., 2011. Electrostatically biased binding of kinesin to microtubules. PLoS Biology, Vol.9 (No.11)
- Katsuki, Miho, Muto, Etsuko, Cross, R. A., 2011. Preparation of dual-color polarity-marked fluorescent microtubule seeds. Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.), Vol.777, pp. 117-126
- Cross, R. A., 2010. Kinesin-14 : the roots of reversal. BMC Biology, Vol.8 (No.107)
- Katsuki, Miho, Drummond, D. R., Osei, M., Cross, R. A., 2009. Mal3 masks catastrophe events in schizosaccharomyces pombe microtubules by inhibiting shrinkage and promoting rescue. Journal of Biological Chemistry, Vol.284 (No.43), pp. 29246-29250
- des Georges, Amédée, Katsuki, Miho, Drummond, Douglas R., Osei, Michael, Cross, R. A., Amos, L. A., 2008. Mal3, the Schizosaccharomyces pombe homolog of EB1, changes the microtubule lattice. Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, Vol.15 (No.10), pp. 1102-1108
- Dunn, S., Morrison, E. E., Liverpool, T. B., Molina-Paris , Carmen, Cross, R. A., Alonso, M. (Maria), Peckham, M., 2008. Differential trafficking of Kif5c on tyrosinated and detyrosinated microtubules in live cells. Journal of Cell Science, Vol.121 (No.7), pp. 1085-1095
- Kaseda, Kuniyoshi, Crevel, Isabelle, Hirose, Keiko, Cross, R. A., 2008. Single-headed mode of kinesin-5. EMBO reports, Vol.9 (No.8), pp. 761-765
- Cross, R. A., 2015. Mechanisms of action of Eg5 inhibitors. In Kozielski, Frank (ed.), Kinesins and Cancer, Springer, pp. 53-62
- 'Siddiqui, Nida, 'Roth, Daniel, 'Toleikis, Algirdas, 'Zwetsloot, Alexander J., 'Cross, Robert A., 'Straube, Anne, 2022. 'Force generation of KIF1C is impaired by pathogenic mutations. Current Biology, Cell Press
- Cross, R. A., 2008. Single molecule for the people. Nature Cell Biology, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, pp. 1014-1014
Title | Funder | Award start | Award end |
---|---|---|---|
Interlocking nanomechanics of kinesin and tubulin (Wellcome Trust Investigator Award). | Wellcome Trust | 01 Jun 2020 | 31 May 2025 |
BBSRC:ALERT 22 proposal: tomic force microscope for biological rsearch (bioAFM) | BBSRC | 01 Aug 2023 | 31 Jul 2024 |
How microtuble plus tip trackers couple polymer assembly to cargo transport - Full | Leverhulme Trust | 13 Feb 2017 | 30 Jun 2021 |
How kinesins generate directional force and movement. Supplement for 38982 due to COVID19 | Wellcome Trust | 01 Apr 2020 | 31 May 2020 |
How kinesins generate directional force and movement. Cross Senior Investigator Award | Wellcome Trust | 01 Oct 2014 | 02 Apr 2020 |
Equipment - Probing the molecular origins of the speciesselectivity of microtubule-directed fungicides | Syngenta Ltd | 18 Nov 2013 | 01 Apr 2017 |
Probing the molecular origins of species-selectivity in microtubule-directed fungicides | BBSRC | 01 Oct 2013 | 01 Apr 2017 |
Supplement to Transitional Programme Grant (equipment donated in kind) | Marie Curie Cancer Care | 02 Sep 2010 | 30 Sep 2012 |
Marie Curie Cancer Care Transitional Programme Grant | Marie Curie Cancer Care | 01 Oct 2009 | 30 Sep 2012 |
Single Molecule Analysis of Microtubule Tip Tracking Protein in Vitro | Association for International Cancer Research | 02 Sep 2010 | 31 Mar 2012 |