Julie Grantham

Senior Lecturer

Research constellation: Molecular Biology
Phone: 46 31-786 2846
E-mail: julie.grantham@cmb.gu.se
Room nymber: 2436 | Lundbergslaboratory

Subject

Cell Biology/Molecular chaperones/Cytoskeleton

Research projects

The molecular chaperone CCT and the cytoskeleton

Description

Molecular chaperones are a group of proteins that help other proteins reach their correct 3 dimensional conformations, a sub-family named the chaperonins are large barrel shaped oligomers consisting of two back to back rings of protein subunits. Our research focuses on the Chaperonin Containing TCP-1 (CCT) that is found in the cytoplasm of all eukaryotic cells and is required by the major cytoskeletal proteins actin and tubulin to reach their native conformations. We are particularly interested in how the activity of CCT influences the actin and tubulin-based cytoskeletal systems.
We have shown that reduction of CCT activity results in a delay in cell cycle progression and when total CCT levels are reduced extensively by siRNA there is a dramatic halt in cell cycle progression, disorganisation of the actin-based cytoskeleton and altered cell motility (Grantham et al., 2006).

A) 3 dimensional reconstruction of actin bound to CCT (Llorca et al. 1999)
B) CCT subunits (α to θ) separated by IEF PAGE (Martin-Benito et al. 2007)
C) and D) Comparison of the actin cytoskeleton (Filamentous actin: red, monomeric actin:green) in control cells (C) and cells with reduced levels of CCT (D) (Grantham et al. 2006)

Project leader: Julie Grantham
Other group members: Karen Brackley, Lisa Larsson

Recent Publications

Liu, B., Larsson, L., Caballero, A., Hao, X., Öling, D., Grantham, J. and Nyström, T. (2010) The polarisome is required for establishing unequal inheritance and retrograde transport of protein aggregates. Cell. 140:257-267.

Brackley, K.I. and Grantham, J. (2010) Subunits of the chaperonin CCT interaction with F-actin and influence cell shape and cytoskeletal assembly. Experimental Cell Research. 316:543-553.

Grantham, J. (2010) The eukaryotic chaperonin CCT (TRiC): structure, mechanisms of action and substrate diversity. In Molecular chaperones: roles, structures and functions. P. Durante and L. Colucci, editors. Nova Science Publishers, New York.

Brackley, K.I. and Grantham, J. (2009) Activities of the chaperonin containing TCP-1 (CCT): implications for cell cycle progression and cytoskeletal organization. Cell Stress and Chaperones 14:23-31 (review article).