We are a structural biology group focused on unraveling the molecular mechanisms by which membrane trafficking is regulated. We have made contributions to understanding the architecture of membrane tethering complexes in the CATCHR family , which regulate vesicle docking and likely fusion at the acceptor organelle. Our discovery was that individual subunits within these complexes share similar architecture and so likely descend from a common protein ancestor, and we also provided experimental evidence that GARP is related to other CATCHR complexes. We have also been at the forefront is examining how Rab guanine nucleotide exchange factors recognize and activate their substrates, with work on the Sec2/Sec4, TRAPPI/Ypt1, and DENND1/Rab35 systems. Most recently, we have become engaged in SNARE regulation, particularly in examining how SNARE-regulatory proteins interact with still assembling SNARE complexes to affect their assembly
