Amanda Siglin

Publications (2)15.89 Total impact

• Article: Functional interaction between dynein light chain and intermediate chain is required for mitotic spindle positioning.

  Melissa D Stuchell-Brereton, Amanda Siglin, Jun Li, Jeffrey K Moore, Shubbir Ahmed, John C Williams, John A Cooper
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  ABSTRACT: Cytoplasmic dynein is a large multisubunit complex involved in retrograde transport and the positioning of various organelles. Dynein light chain (LC) subunits are conserved across species; however, the molecular contribution of LCs to dynein function remains controversial. One model suggests that LCs act as cargo-binding scaffolds. Alternatively, LCs are proposed to stabilize the intermediate chains (ICs) of the dynein complex. To examine the role of LCs in dynein function, we used Saccharomyces cerevisiae, in which the sole function of dynein is to position the spindle during mitosis. We report that the LC8 homologue, Dyn2, localizes with the dynein complex at microtubule ends and interacts directly with the yeast IC, Pac11. We identify two Dyn2-binding sites in Pac11 that exert differential effects on Dyn2-binding and dynein function. Mutations disrupting Dyn2 elicit a partial loss-of-dynein phenotype and impair the recruitment of the dynein activator complex, dynactin. Together these results indicate that the dynein-based function of Dyn2 is via its interaction with the dynein IC and that this interaction is important for the interaction of dynein and dynactin. In addition, these data provide the first direct evidence that LC occupancy in the dynein motor complex is important for function.
  Molecular biology of the cell 06/2011; 22(15):2690-701. · 5.98 Impact Factor
• Article: Solid-state and solution NMR studies of the CAP-Gly domain of mammalian dynactin and its interaction with microtubules.

  Shangjin Sun, Amanda Siglin, John C Williams, Tatyana Polenova
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  ABSTRACT: Microtubules (MTs) and microtubule binding proteins (MTBPs) play fundamental physiological roles including vesicle and organelle transport, cell motility, and cell division. Despite the importance of the MT/MTBP assemblies, there remains virtually no structural or dynamic information about their interaction at the atomic level due to the inherent insolubility and lack of long-range order of MTs. In this study, we present a combined magic angle spinning solid-state and solution NMR study of the MTBP CAP-Gly domain of mammalian dynactin and its interaction with paclitaxel-stabilized microtubules. We report resonance assignments and secondary structure analysis of the free CAP-Gly in solution and in the solid state by a combination of two- and three-dimensional homo- and heteronuclear correlation spectra. In solution, binding of CAP-Gly to microtubules is accompanied by the broadening of the majority of the peaks in HSQC spectra except for the residues at the termini, precluding further structural analysis of the CAP-Gly/microtubule complexes. In the solid state, DARR spectra of free CAP-Gly and its complex with microtubules display well-resolved lines, permitting residue-specific resonance assignments. Interestingly, a number of chemical shifts in the solid-state DARR spectra of the CAP-Gly/microtubule complex are perturbed compared to those of the free CAP-Gly, suggesting that conformational changes occur in the protein upon binding to the microtubules. These results indicate that CAP-Gly/microtubule assemblies are amenable to detailed structural characterization by magic angle spinning NMR spectroscopy and that solid-state NMR is a viable technique to study MT/protein interactions in general.
  Journal of the American Chemical Society 08/2009; 131(29):10113-26. · 9.91 Impact Factor