Investigators and Program Directors
Michael Koonce
Research Scientist, Wadsworth Center, Cellular and Molecular Basis of Diseases
Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley (1987)
Postdoctoral training, University of Colorado at Boulder
E-mail: koonce@wadsworth.org
Research Interests
Our general interest lies in understanding the molecular basis of eukaryotic cell motility. We focus on determining how motor proteins engage the cytoskeleton and how they drive organelle movements. Efforts are directed in two complementary directions. One seeks to determine the structure of the molecular motor, dynein, to understand the physical changes associated with force production. We utilize electron microscopy to image various constructs of the motor and single particle averaging methods to produce 3D reconstructions. Unlike the single densities comprising the myosin and kinesin motors, we have revealed that the dynein motor core is composed of a ring-shaped arrangement of seven protein domains. The second effort is aimed at understanding dynein's role in organizing the interphase microtubule cytoskeleton. Perturbations to dynein in our model system, Dictyostelium, result in a striking movement of the entire microtubule array. Centrosomes lead a loosely bundled arrangement of microtubules that resemble an intracellular comet. We are attempting to determine how dynein is regulated in cells and the nature of additional motor activities that drive this comet-like motion.
Contact Information
E-mail: koonce@wadsworth.org.