College of Medicine – Phoenix, Translational Cardiovascular Research Center - Seminars
When
Where
Health Sciences Education Building, Room C401
435 N. 5th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004
or
The TCRC Seminar Series, a monthly seminar series covering diverse topics in translational cardiovascular research, presents:
“Mechanistic Insights into Myosin-Based Muscle Diseases”
Abstract
The molecular motor myosin serves a critical role in skeletal muscle and heart contraction. Mutations in myosin are the basis of both skeletal and cardiac myopathies. Using a transgenic approach in Drosophila melanogaster, we are defining the roles of isoform-specific domains of muscle myosin heavy chain. Our integrative approach spans structural biology, biochemistry, biophysics, cell biology, muscle mechanics and assays of whole organism location. In recent years, we have produced and analyzed models of myosin-based human disease and aging-related myosin post-translational modifications. These studies provide insights into defects in myosin that drive childhood over contraction disease (distal arthrogryposis), aggregation-based diseases (inclusion body and myosin storage myopathies), as well as hypertrophic and dilated cardiomyopathy.