PROTEIN-MEDIATED ACTOMYOSIN DYNAMICS

My group and other members of the CTBP have developed a novel theoretical and computational approach of understanding the structural plasticity of a dendritic spine based on the framework of far-from equilibrium physics. We focus on how the upstream calmodulin-dependent calcium signaling triggers the remodeling of actomyosin networks, a key component of cytoskeleton, that leads to the morphological change in a dendritic spine in neuronal cells, which influences learning and memory formation.

 Molecular mechanism of the interhead coordination by interhead tension in cytoplasmic dyneins

Q. Wang, B. Janab, M. R. Diehl, M. S. Cheung, A. B. Kolomeisky, J. N. Onuchic, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 115, 10052-10057 (2018).

Assemblies of calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase II with actin and their dynamic regulation by calmodulin in dendritic spines

Q. Wang, M. Chen, N. P. Schafer, C. Bueno, S. S. Song, A. Hudmon, P. G. Wolynes, M. N. Waxham, M. S. Cheung, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 116, 18937-18942 (2019)

The role of the Arp2/3 complex in shaping the dynamics and structures of branched actomyosin networks

J. Liman, C. Bueno, Y. Eliaz, M. N. Waxham, H. Levine, P. G. Wolynes, M. S. Cheung,Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 117, 10825-10831 (2020).