In the Southworth lab we use cryo-electron microscopy to determine the structure of dynamic protein complexes central to cellular signaling and homeostasis. This structural focus is coupled to key biochemical methods in order to directly attribute biological mechanisms to the protein:protein interactions and conformational changes we identify at the single molecule level. Specifically we are focused on understanding how molecular chaperones and co-regulatory proteins function at the interface of protein folding, activation and degradation pathways.