Position Title
Associate Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology
Dr. McKenney pursued graduate research focused on the mechanochemical regulation of the microtubule motor cytoplasmic dynein. At Columbia University, he joined the lab of Dr. Richard Vallee, who discovered the motor protein cytoplasmic dynein. His work was the first to describe how two regulatory proteins, LIS1 and NudE, are able to modulate dynein’s motor output, transforming it from a weak to a persistent motor. This work combined biochemistry and biophysical approaches to provide insights into long-standing questions in the dynein and brain development fields, as LIS1 is the causative gene of the neurodevelopmental disease lissencephaly. Dr. McKenney then moved to the lab of Dr. Ron Vale at UCSF to continue his studies on dynein using advanced single-molecule microscopy.
As a faculty member at UC Davis, Dr. McKenney studies how cells internally organize using molecular motor proteins. In particular, he focuses on the microtubule cytoskeleton and the motor proteins that use this filament system for transport (kinesins and dyneins). He is interested in allosteric regulation of motor protein movement, how motor activity is balanced and coordinated, and how dysfunction in motor activity leads to human diseases such as cancer and neurodegeneration. His lab combines advanced molecular biology, biochemistry, and single-molecule TIRF microscopy to address these problems.