Department of Biochemistry - Dr. Richard McCann

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Dr. Richard McCann
Richard O. McCann
Assistant Professor
B.S., Ph.D. University of Georgia
rmcca1@pop.uky.edu
859-323-1796 (office)
859-323-2334 (lab)

Research Interests | Publications | PubMed

Research Interests:

The actin cytoskeleton in cytoplasmic organization, cell signaling, and cell adhesion.

The actin cytoskeleton is involved in cell motility, cytoplasmic organization, and cell adhesion through the coordinated interaction of many different cytoskeleton-associated proteins. We concentrate on the structure, function, regulation, and cellular roles of a particular class of modular cytoskeletal proteins containing an actin binding domain known as the I/LWEQ module.

The I/LWEQ module is found in several different proteins, including the metazoan focal adhesion component talin and the Dictyostelium discoidem talin homologs TalA and TalB. The I/LWEQ module of talin is responsible for the actin binding capacity of talin and presumably that of TalA/TalB. Current projects are using biochemical, cellular, bioinformatic,functional genomic, and molecular genetic approaches as part of a multifaceted approach to elucidate the roles of the I/LWEQ module in the function of these proteins in cell motility, cell adhesion, and cell-substrate interactions.

The other principal branch of the I/LWEQ module superfamily includes the related proteins Sla2, which is found in fungi, and Hip1, which is the metazoan counterpart of Sla2. Hip1 (huntingtin interacting protein-1) was discovered as a binding partner of huntingtin, the protein implicated in the etiology of Huntington disease. A major goal of our research program is the characterization of the role of the I/LWEQ module in the normal function of Hip1; we are currently exploring several different model systems as part of this project.

REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS

Richard O. McCann, William N. White, Bryan P. Hendren, Stanley J. Foster, Richard H. Singiser, Melissa A. Senetar, and Lesly Temesvari (2007). The cytoskeletal adhesion protein talin (TalB) and the endocytic accessory protein Hip1 of Entamoeba histolytica interact with F-actin. Molecular and Biochemical Parasitoliogy, submitted.

Richard H. Singiser and Richard O. McCann (2006). Evidence that talin alternative splice variants from Ciona intestinalis have different roles in cell adhesion. BMC Cell Biology 7: 40 (http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2121/7/40). Cover article: Image of the Month, January 2007.

M.A. Senetar, C. L. Moncman, and R.O. McCann (2006). Talin2 is induced during striated muscle differentiation and is targeted to stable adhesion complexes in mature muscle. Cell Motility and the Cytoskeleton, In press, 31 Oct 2006.

S. Franco, M.A. Senetar, W.T.N. Simonson, A. Huttenlocher, and R.O. McCann (2006). The conserved I/LWEQ module targets Talin1 to focal adhesions. Cell Motility and the Cytoskeleton 63: 563-581.

R.M. Schowalter, M.A. Wurth, H.C. Aguilar, B. Lee, C.L. Moncman, R.O. McCann and R.E. Dutch (2006). Rho GTPase activity modulates paramxyovirus fusion protein-mediated cell fusion. Virology 350: 323-334.

M.A. Senetar and R. O. McCann (2005). Gene duplication and functional divergence during evolution of the cytoskeletal linker protein talin. Gene 362: 141-152.

K. A. Meulendyke, M.A. Wurth, R.O. McCann, and R.E. Dutch (2005). Endocytosis plays a critical role in proteolytic processing of the Hendra virus fusion protein. J. Virology 79:12643-12649.

A. Poole, T. Poore, S. Bandhakavi, R.O. McCann, D.E. Hanna, and C.V.C. Glover (2005). A global view of CK2 function and regulation. Mol. Cell. Biochem. 274: 163-170.

M.A. Senetar, S.J. Foster, and R.O. McCann (2004). Intrasteric inhibition mediates the interaction of the I/LWEQ module proteins Talin1, Talin2, Hip1, and Hip12 with actin. Biochemistry, 43: 15418-15428.

S. Bhandikavi, R.O. McCann, D. E. Hanna, and C.V.C. Glover (2003). "A positive feedback loop between protein kinase CKII and Cdc37 promotes the activity of multiple protein kinases" J. Biol. Chem. 278: 2829-2836.

13. S. Bhandikavi, R.O. McCann, D. E. Hanna, and C.V.C. Glover (2003). "Genetic interactions among ZDS1,2, CDC37, and Protein Kinase CK2 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae." FEBS Letters 554: 295-300.

I. Dotan, E. Ziv, N. Dafni, J.S. Beckman, R.O. McCann, C.S. Rubin, C.V.C. Glover, and D. Canaani (2001). Functional conservation between the human, nematode, and yeast CK2 cell cycle genes. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 288, 603-609.

A.P. Bidwai, A. Saxena, W. Zhao, R.O. McCann, and C.V.C. Glover (2000). Multiple, Closely Spaced Alternative 5' Exons in the DmCKIIbeta Gene of Drosophila melanogaster. Mol. Cell. Biol. Res. Commun. 3, 283-291.

R.O. McCann and S.W. Craig (1999). Functional genomic analysis reveals the utility of the I/LWEQ module as a predictor of protein:actin interaction. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 266, 135-140.

R.O. McCann and S.W. Craig (1997). The I/LWEQ module: a conserved sequence that signifies F-actin binding in functionally diverse proteins from yeast to mammals. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94, 5679-5684.