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The Department of Biological Sciences is composed of 38 faculty engaged in teaching and research activities. The Department is home to many vibrant research programs and our faculty are located in state-of-the-art laboratories in Wolf and McKinly Halls as well as the Delaware Biotechnology Institute, a joint effort between the University of Delaware and area biotechnology industries.
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Browsing Department of Biological Sciences by Subject "actin"
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Item Erythroid differentiation in mouse erythroleukemia cells depends on Tmod3-mediated regulation of actin filament assembly into the erythroblast membrane skeleton(FASEB Journal, 2022-02-23) Ghosh, Arit; Coffin, Megan; West, Richard; Fowler, Velia M.Erythroid differentiation (ED) is a complex cellular process entailing morphologically distinct maturation stages of erythroblasts during terminal differentiation. Studies of actin filament (F-actin) assembly and organization during terminal ED have revealed essential roles for the F-actin pointed-end capping proteins, tropomodulins (Tmod1 and Tmod3). Tmods bind tropomyosins (Tpms), which enhance Tmod capping and F-actin stabilization. Tmods can also nucleate F-actin assembly, independent of Tpms. Tmod1 is present in the red blood cell (RBC) membrane skeleton, and deletion of Tmod1 in mice leads to a mild compensated anemia due to mis-regulated F-actin lengths and membrane instability. Tmod3 is not present in RBCs, and global deletion of Tmod3 leads to embryonic lethality in mice with impaired ED. To further decipher Tmod3’s function during ED, we generated a Tmod3 knockout in a mouse erythroleukemia cell line (Mel ds19). Tmod3 knockout cells appeared normal prior to ED, but showed defects during progression of ED, characterized by a marked failure to reduce cell and nuclear size, reduced viability, and increased apoptosis. Tmod3 does not assemble with Tmod1 and Tpms into the Triton X-100 insoluble membrane skeleton during ED, and loss of Tmod3 had no effect on α1,β1-spectrin and protein 4.1R assembly into the membrane skeleton. However, F-actin, Tmod1 and Tpms failed to assemble into the membrane skeleton during ED in absence of Tmod3. We propose that Tmod3 nucleation of F-actin assembly promotes incorporation of Tmod1 and Tpms into membrane skeleton F-actin, and that this is integral to morphological maturation and cell survival during erythroid terminal differentiation.Item Recessive TMOD1 mutation causes childhood cardiomyopathy(Communications Biology, 2024-01-02) Vasilescu, Catalina; Colpan, Mert; Ojala, Tiina H.; Manninen, Tuula; Mutka, Aino; Ylänen, Kaisa; Rahkonen, Otto; Poutanen, Tuija; Martelius, Laura; Kumari, Reena; Hinterding, Helena; Brilhante, Virginia; Ojanen, Simo; Lappalainen, Pekka; Koskenvuo, Juha; Carroll, Christopher J.; Fowler, Velia M.; Gregorio, Carol C.; Suomalainen, AnuFamilial cardiomyopathy in pediatric stages is a poorly understood presentation of heart disease in children that is attributed to pathogenic mutations. Through exome sequencing, we report a homozygous variant in tropomodulin 1 (TMOD1; c.565C>T, p.R189W) in three individuals from two unrelated families with childhood-onset dilated and restrictive cardiomyopathy. To decipher the mechanism of pathogenicity of the R189W mutation in TMOD1, we utilized a wide array of methods, including protein analyses, biochemistry and cultured cardiomyocytes. Structural modeling revealed potential defects in the local folding of TMOD1R189W and its affinity for actin. Cardiomyocytes expressing GFP-TMOD1R189W demonstrated longer thin filaments than GFP-TMOD1wt-expressing cells, resulting in compromised filament length regulation. Furthermore, TMOD1R189W showed weakened activity in capping actin filament pointed ends, providing direct evidence for the variant’s effect on actin filament length regulation. Our data indicate that the p.R189W variant in TMOD1 has altered biochemical properties and reveals a unique mechanism for childhood-onset cardiomyopathy.