Faculty

Lundquist Lab Webpage

• B.S., University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1989.
• Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 1995.
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute Post-Doctoral Scholar, University of California-SanFrancisco, 1995-1996.
• Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Research Fund Post-Doctoral Scholar, University of California-San Francisco, 1996-1999.
• National Institutes of Health Post-Doctoral Scholar, University of California-San Francisco, 1999-2000.

Developmental Neurobiology

            Members of the Lundquist lab study the molecular mechanisms of nervous system development using the nematode C. elegans as a model.  In particular, researchers in the lab study how the Rac GTPases regulate the actin cytoskeleton during axon outgrowth and in growth cone morphology (in the formation of growth cone lamellipodia and filopodia).  Furthermore, lab members are interested in the molecular mechanisms of neuroblast polarization and migration and the roles of receptors and ligands in the control of direction of polarization and migration as well as the role of cytoplasmic signaling molecules (e.g. GTPases, kinases) in this process.  The processes of neuronal polarization and migration and axon pathfinding sculpt the structure of the mammalian central nervous system, including the human brain, so understanding conserved mechanisms of morphogenesis will be important to understanding the basis of human developmental disorders and might elucidate mechanisms of central nervous system recovery after trauma such as spinal cord injury or stroke.

Recent work has focused on the role of the Rho GTPases in neuronal development. Rho GTPases are members of signaling pathways that link guidance receptors to the cytoskeleton. the lab has identified the UNC-115 protein (called abLIM in humans), which is actin-binding protein that acts with Rho GTPases and might modulate the actin cytoskeleton directly in response to guidance signals. Other studies in the lab have identified new and previously-identified proteins that control growth cone outgrowth during development of the nervous system.

Representative Publications

• E.A. Lundquist. 2009.  Primer:  The Finer Points of Filopodia.  PLOS Biol., in press.
• Hueston JL, Purinton Herren G, Cueva JG, Buechner M, Lundquist EA, Goodman MB, Suprenant KA. 2008. The C. elegans EMAP-like protein, ELP-1 is required for normal touch sensation and associates with microtubules and adhesion complexes. BMC Dev Biol. Nov 17;8(1):110. 
• J. Lu, W.L. Dentler, and E.A. Lundquist. 2008.  FLI-1 Flightless-1 acts with LET-60 Ras to control germ line morphogenesis in C. elegans.” BMC Dev Biol. May 16;8:54.
• M.A. Shakir, K. Jiang, E.C. Struckhoff, R.S. Demarco, F.B. Patel, M.C. Soto, and E.A. Lundquist. 2008.  The Arp2/3 activators WAVE and WASP have distinct interactions with Rac GTPases in C. elegans axon guidance.  Genetics 179(4):1957-1971
•  J.O. Chapman, H. Li, and E. A. Lundquist. 2008.  The MIG-15 Nik kinase acts cell-autonomously in neuroblast polarization and migration in C. elegans.  Developmental Biology 324(2):245-257.
• M.A. Shakir, J.S. Gill and E.A. Lunquist. 2006. Interactions of UNC-34 Enabled with Rac GTPases and the NIK kinase MIG-15 in Caenorhabditis elegans axon pathfinding and neuronal migration. Find Article Online.
• Y. Yang, J. Lu, J. Rovnak, S.L. Quackenbush and E.A. Lundquist. 2006. SWAN-1, a C. elegans WD repeat protein of the AN11 family, is a negative regulator of Rac GTPase function. Find Article Online.
• Y. Yang and E.A. Lundquist. 2005. The actin-binding protein UNC-115/abLIM controls lamellipodia and filopodia formation and neuronal morphogenesis in C. elegans. Mol Cell Biol 25, 5158–5170. Find Article Online.
• J.L. Yanowitz, M.A. Shakir, E. Hedgecock, H. Hutter, A.Z. Fire, and E.A. Lundquist. 2004. UNC-39, the C. elegans homolog of the human myotonic dystrophy-associated homeodomain protein Six5, regulates cell motility and differentiation. Developmental Biology 272, 389–402. Find Article Online.
• E. A. Lundquist. 2003. “Rac Proteins and the Control of Axon Development.” Current Opin Neurobiol 13(3): 384–390. Find Article Online.
• Gitai Z, Yu TW, Lundquist EA, Tessier-Lavigne M, Bargmann CI. 2003. The Netrin Receptor UNC-40/DCC Stimulates Axon Attraction and Outgrowth through Enabled and, in Parallel, Rac and UNC-115/AbLIM. Neuron. 37(1):53–65. Find Article Online.
• Struckhoff EC, Lundquist EA. 2002. The actin-binding protein UNC-115 is an effector of Rac signaling during axon pathfinding in C. elegans Development 130(4):693–704. Find Article Online.
• Erik A. Lundquist, Peter W. Reddien, Erika Hartwieg, H. Robert Horvitz and Cornelia I. Bargmann. 2001. Three C. elegans Rac Proteins and Several Alternative Rac Regulators Control Axon Guidance, Cell Migration, and Apoptotic Cell Phagocytosis. Development 128:4475–4488. Find Article Online.
• E.A. Lundquist, R.K. Herman, J.E. Shaw and C.I. Bargmann. 1998. UNC-115, A Conserved Protein with Predicted LIM and Actin-Binding Domains Mediates Axon Guidance in C. elegans. Neuron 21: 385–392. Find Article Online.
• J.C. Collet, C.A. Spike, E.A. Lundquist, J.E. Shaw and R.K. Herman. 1998. Analysis of osm-6, a Gene That Affects Sensory Cilium Structure and Sensory Neuron Function in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics 148: 187–200. Find Article Online.
• E.A. Lundquist, R.K. Herman, T.M. Rogalski, G.P. Mullen, D.G. Moerman and J.E. Shaw, 1996. The mec-8 Gene of C. elegans Encodes a Protein with Two RNA-Recognition Motifs and Regulates Alternative Splicing of unc-52 Transcripts. Development 122: 1601–1610. Find Article Online.
• E.A. Lundquist and R.K. Herman, 1994. The mec-8 Gene of C. elegans Affects Muscle and Sensory Neuron Function and Interacts with Three Other Genes: unc-52, smu-1 and smu-2. Genetics 138: 83–101. Find Article Online.
• M.A. Crosby, E.A. Lundquist, R.M. Tautvydas and J.J. Johnson, 1993. The 3′ Regulatory Region of the Abdominal-B Gene: Genetic Analysis Supports a Model of Reiterated and Interchangeable Regulatory Elements. Genetics 134: 809–824. Find Article Online.

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