Structural dynamics of SMC complexes

Every cell division, our genome must be packaged into sausage-shaped chromatids so they can be transported around the cell. A family of ring-shaped proteins called SMC complexes are responsible for this process in all organisms from bacteria to humans. How these rings package DNA was a mystery until last year when we discovered that SMC complexes can grow loops of DNA while burning chemical energy like a motor. We don't know how these machines work but we expect that they have moving parts like other machines. To work out how SMC complexes move I will attach fluorescent dyes to their moving parts and using extremely sensitive microscopes I will observe their movements relative to each other. This will help us determine how these ring-shaped proteins move on DNA and therefore how our DNA is passed from one generation to the next.