The research in this laboratory is focused on identifying the components and molecular mechanisms regulating actin architecture in cardiac and skeletal muscle during normal development and disease. Control of actin filament lengths and dynamics is important for cell motility and architecture and is regulated in part by capping proteins that block elongation and depolymerization at both the fast-growing (barbed) and slow-growing (pointed) ends of the filaments. Striated muscle is an ideal model system to test for the functional properties of various actin regulatory proteins due to the precise organization and polarity of cytoskeletal components within repeating sarcomeric units. For example, the ~1 mm long actin filaments are easily resolved by light microscopy; thus we can make filaments longer and/or shorter and see the alterations by fluorescent microscopy in live myocytes. Using this system we can combine advanced cell biological and biochemical approaches with direct tests of physiological function in live beating muscle cells.
