Margot E. Quinlan
Margot E. Quinlan
Dr. Quinlan obtained her B.A. at Reed College in 1991. She then spent two years in Germany doing research at the University of Erlangen-Nurnberg. She went to graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania where she worked with Yale Goldman and received her Ph.D. in 2002. She worked as a postdoctoral fellow at UCSF with Dyche Mullins until 2008 when she joined the faculty in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCLA.
Molecular Mechanism | Cell Biology | Regulation | Mammalian Disease
We are using biochemistry, microscopy and genetic approaches to study dynamics of the actin cytoskeleton. We are currently focusing on Spire and Cappuccino, two proteins that collaborate to build an actin network essential for early body axis development in Drosophila. Combining an in vitro understanding of the mechanism of Spir and Capu with in vivo studies of oogenesis will provide insight into how the actin cytoskeleton is regulated and a broader understanding of cell polarity. In the Quinlan lab we are addressing four questions:
Molecular Mechanism: How do Spir and Capu collaborate?
Cell Biology: What role does the Spir-Capu complex play in Drosophila oogenesis?
Regulation: How is the Spir-Capu complex regulated?
Mammalian Disease: Is the Spir-Capu complex a polarity factor in other cell types?
Left: Domain organization of Spire and Cappuccino. Right: Model of nucleation by the Spir- Capu complex
- Alexander and Renee Kolin Endowed Professorship of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, 2008
- Career Award in the Biomedical Sciences, Burroughs-Wellcome Fund, 2006-2011
- Postdoctoral Fellowship, American Heart Association, Declined, 2006
- Postdoctoral Fellowship, American Cancer Society, Honorable Mention, 2004
- Predoctoral Fellow in Biological Sciences, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 1994-1999
- Predoctoral Fellowship, National Science Foundation, Honorable Mention, 1994
- Summer Fellow, American Heart Association, 1991
- Commended for Excellence in Scholarship, Reed College, 1991
- Lifetime member, California Scholarship Federation, 1986
- Roth-Johnson, E.A., Vizcarra, C.L., Bois, J.S., Quinlan, M.E.
Interaction between microtubules and the Drosophila formin Cappuccino and its effect on actin assembly. J Biol Chem. 2014 Feb 14;289(7):4395-404. PMCID: PMC3924302. - Quinlan, M.E.
Direct interaction between two actin nucleators is required in Drosophila oogenesis. Development 2013 Nov;140(21):4417-25. PMCID:PMC4007717. - Bor, B., Vizcarra, C.L., Phillips, M.L., Quinlan, M.E.
Autoinhibition of the formin Cappuccino in the absence of canonical autoinhibitory domains. Mol Biol of the Cell.2012 Oct;23(19):3801-3813. PMCID: PMC3459857. - Chen, C.K., Sawaya, M.R., Phillips, M.L., Reisler, E., Quinlan, M.E.
Multiple forms of Spire-actin complexes and their functional consequences. J Biol Chem. 2012 Mar 23;287(13):10684-10692. PMCID: PMC3323035. - Vizcarra, C.L.1, Kreutz, B.1, Rodal, A.A., Toms, A.V., Lu, J., Zhang, W., Quinlan, M.E.*, Eck, M.J. *.
Structure and function of the interacting domains of Spire and Fmn-family formins. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2011 Jul 19;108(29):11884-11889. PMCID: PMC3141961. 1authors contributed equally, *co-corresponding authors - Zuchero, J.B., Coutts, A.S., Quinlan, M.E., Thangue, N.B., Mullins, R.D.
p53-cofactor JMY is a multifunctional actin nucleation factor. Nat Cell Biol. 2009 11(4):451-459. PMCID: PMC2763628. - Quinlan, M.E., Kerkhoff, E.
Actin nucleation: bacteria get in-Spired. Nat Cell Biol. 2008 Jan; 10(1):13-5. - Quinlan, M.E., Hilgert, S., Bedrossian, A., Mullins, R.D., Kerkhoff, E.
Regulatory interactions between two actin nucleators, Spire and Cappuccino. J Cell Biol. 2007 Oct 8;179(1):117-28, 2007. PMCID:PMC2064741. - Quinlan, M.E., Heuser, J.E., Kerkhoff, E., Mullins, R.D.
Drosophila Spire is an actin nucleation factor. Nature 2005 Jan 27;433(7024):382-8. - Quinlan, M.E., Forkey, J.N., Goldman, Y.E.
Orientation of the myosin light chain region by single molecule total internal reflection fluorescence polarization microscopy. Biophys J. 2005 Aug;89:1132-1142. PMCID: PMC1366598. - Forkey, J.N., Quinlan, M.E., Goldman, Y.E.
Measurement of single macromolecule orientation by total internal reflection fluorescence polarization microscopy. Biophys J. 2005 Aug;89(2):1261-1271. PMCID: PMC1366610 [pdf] - Rosenberg, S.A., Quinlan, M.E., Forkey, J.N., Goldman, Y.E.
Rotational motions of macro-molecules by single-molecule fluorescence microscopy. Acc Chem Res. 2005 Jul;38(7):583-93. Review. - Forkey, J.N., Quinlan, M.E., Shaw, M.A., Corrie, J.E., Goldman, Y.E.
Three-dimensional structural dynamics of myosin V by single-molecule fluorescence polarization. Nature 2003 Mar 27;422(6930):399-404. - Quinlan, M.E., Forkey, J.N., Goldman, Y.E.
Kinesin-ADP: whole lotta shakin' goin' on. Nat Struct Biol. 2001 Jun;8(6):478-80. - Forkey, J.N., Quinlan, M.E., Goldman, Y.E.
Protein structural dynamics by single-molecule fluorescence polarization. Prog Biophys Mol Biol. 2000;74(1-2):1-35. Review.