The goal of the Kast lab is to understand fundamental cellular and molecular mechanisms that drive the biogenesis and dynamics of intracellular membrane compartments, including endocytic vesicles, the endoplasmic reticulum, the Golgi apparatus, and mitochondria. Cytoskeleton dynamics plays an essential role in the shaping and trafficking of these different membrane structures, however cannot remodel membranes directly. In order to harness the power of the cytoskeleton for the purpose of membrane shaping, cells use diverse sets of modular proteins that form protein complexes with cytoskeleton and signaling proteins, which in turn can partition membranes into autonomous membrane micro-domains. My lab is focused on (1) understanding fundamental molecular mechanisms that govern intracellular membrane reorganization and protein sorting; (2) stimulating the development of fluorescence based assays to delineate important signaling pathways involved in the biogenesis and trafficking vesicle; (3) defining the role(s) of endocytic dysfunction in cancer and neurological disease and take advantage of endocytic pathways to deliver next generation therapeutics to diseased cells. To accomplish these goals, the Kast lab employs a multifaceted approach that interleaves biochemical kinetics, fluorescence spectroscopy, x-ray crystallography, in vitro reconstitution, and live-cell imaging.