Michael Rust Lab

The Institute for Genomics and Systems Biology
The University of Chicago
900 East 57th Street
KCBD 10124
Chicago, IL 60637

 

Phone: (773)-834-1463

About the Lab

My lab is interested in understanding how the properties of living cells emerge from the stochastic reactions of molecular components. We use a mixture of biophysical, biochemical, genomic, mathematical modeling, and single-cell microscopy approaches to link the properties of molecules to the systems-level behavior of cells. Most of our attention is currently focused on an oscillatory protein network found in cyanobacteria that the organism uses to predict the time of day. Remarkably, the biological rhythms generated by this circadian clock can be reconstituted in a test tube using three purified protein components:  KaiA, KaiB, KaiC, making this the best-defined biological oscillator currently known. We are actively pursuing a quantitative understanding of the reactions that generate oscillations and the robustness properties of this minimal circadian clock. We are also working outward to expand the functions that can be studied in a purified context and include additional components from the in vivo clock system—we recently showed that it is possible to reconstitute metabolic input signaling to the circadian clock by varying ATP and ADP concentrations. We seek to tie the biochemical and biophysical properties of these components back to physiologically relevant conclusions for the organism by making quantitative measurements of growth rate and single-cell behavior, including experiments that are uniquely possible in microbial model systems.

1. M. J. Rust, “Orderly Wheels of the Cyanobacterial Clock”, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA doi:10.1073/pnas.1214901109 (2012) pdf (commentary on Chang et al.) http://www.pnas.org/content/109/42/16760.long
2. M. J. Rust, S. S. Golden, E. K. O’Shea, “Light-driven Changes in Energy Metabolism Directly Entrain the Cyanobacterial Circadian Oscillator”, Science 331, 220-223 (2011) http://www.sciencemag.org/content/331/6014/220.long
3. M. Bates, B. Huang, M. J. Rust, G. Dempsey, W. Wang, X. Zhuang, “Sub-diffraction-limit Imaging with Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (STORM)”, Nobel Volume on Single Molecule Spectroscopy in Chemistry, (Springer Publishing, in press)
4. H. M. van der Schaar, M. J. Rust, C. Chen, H. van der Ende-Metselaar, J. Wilschut, X. Zhuang, J. M. Smit, “Dissecting the Cell Entry Pathway of Dengue Virus by Single-Particle Tracking in Living Cells”, PLoS Pathogens 4, e1000244 (2008) http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.ppat.1000244
5. M. J. Rust, M. Lakadamyali, B. Brandenburg, X. Zhuang, “Single-virus Tracking in Live Cells” in P. R. Selvin, T. Ha (Eds.) Single Molecules Techniques: A Laboratory Manual. (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 2008) http://cshprotocols.cshlp.org/content/2011/9/pdb.top065623.long
6. M. J. Rust, J. S. Markson, W. S. Lane, D. S. Fisher, E. K. O’Shea, “Ordered Phosphorylation Governs Oscillation of a Three-Protein Circadian Clock”, Science 318, 809-812 (2007) http://www.sciencemag.org/content/318/5851/809.long
7. H. M. van der Shaar, M. J. Rust, B. Waarts, H. van der Ende Metselaar, R. J. Kuhn, J. Wilschut, X. Zhuang, J. M. Smit, “Characterization of the Early Events in Dengue Virus Cell Entry by Biochemical Assays and Single-Virus tracking”, J. Virol. 81, 12019-12028 (2007) http://jvi.asm.org/content/81/21/12019.long
8. M. J. Rust, M. Bates, X. Zhuang, “Sub-diffraction-limit Imaging by Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (STORM)”, Nature Methods 3, 793-795 (2006) http://www.nature.com/nmeth/journal/v3/n10/full/nmeth929.html
9. M. Lakadamyali, M. J. Rust, X. Zhuang, “Ligands for Clathrin-mediated Endocytosis Are Differentially Sorted into Distinct Populations of Early Endosomes”, Cell 124, 997-1009 (2006) http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867406001231
10. M. J. Rust, M. Lakadamyali, F. Zhang, X. Zhuang, “Assembly of Endocytic Machinery around Individual Influenza Viruses During Viral Entry”, Nature Struct. Mol. Biol. 11, 567-573 (2004) http://www.nature.com/nsmb/journal/v11/n6/full/nsmb769.html
11. M. Lakadamyali, M. J. Rust, H P. Babcock, X. Zhuang, “Visualizing Infection of Individual Influenza Viruses”, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100, 9280-9285 (2003) http://www.pnas.org/content/100/16/9280.long

Lab Members

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	Udaysankar Chockanathan IGSB, Research Technician	.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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	Guillaume Lambert Postdoc	(773) 795-5650
	Jenny Lin PhD Student BMB	.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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	Gopal Pattanayak Postdoc Postdoctoral Scholar	.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) 773-795-5650
	Connie Phong Graduate Student Cell and Molecular Biology/Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology	.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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	Michael Rust IGSB, Core Faculty Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology at the University of Chicago	.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (773) 834-1463
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	Crystal Wilhoite Research Technician	.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (773) 795-5650