Christine Suetterlin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor

3128 Natural Sciences I
University of California Irvine
Irvine, CA 92697

Tel: (949) 824-7140
Fax: (949) 824-4709
Email: suetterc@uci.edu
Website: Lab Homepage

Golgi dynamics during mitosis, sumoylation - The Golgi apparatus of mammalian cells is organized as a ribbon of stacked interconnected cisternae in the pericentriolar region of the cell. At the onset of mitosis, this organization is dramatically altered, as Golgi membranes become fragmented and dispersed throughout the cytosol. Preventing mitotic Golgi fragmentation causes cells to arrest in the G2 stage of the cell cycle. Interestingly, this cell cycle block can be alleviated by artificially removing Golgi membranes from the pericentriolar region suggesting that the organization and location of the Golgi apparatus regulates cell cycle progression.

The research in the lab addresses several key aspects of cell cyle-dependent Golgi dynamics:

1. The Golgi fragmentation machinery. To date, the protein kinases MEK1, RAF-1 and Plk1 as well as the Golgi-associated protein GRASP65 have been shown to regulate this process. However, it remains to be determined how these proteins function to convert stacked Golgi membranes into small, dispersed units. Our studies focus on the Golgi-associated protein GRASP65 and its cell cycle dependent binding partners.
2. The Golgi-centrosome connection in mitotic cells. Knock-down of GRASP65 results in the formation of an aberrant mitotic spindle and terminal metaphase arrest. We are investigating how a Golgi-associated protein functions in the regulation of bipolar spindle formation and how the Golgi and the centrosome communicate in mitotic normal and cancer cells.
3. The connection between the Golgi and the centrosome. How are Golgi membranes localized to the pericentriolar region of the cell? Microtubules are required for Golgi localization, but there may be additional proteins that link Golgi membranes more directly to the centrosome and which may regulate cross talk between the two organelles. We are focusing on connector proteins with a possible role in Golgi localization and study their behavior during the cell cycle.
4. Small compound screen for Golgi and/or microtubule disrupting molecules. Drug screens carried out in the past have provided us with valuable tools to understand Golgi and microtubule dynamics. We are screening small compound libraries for molecules that interfere with Golgi and/or microtubule dynamics and investigate the mechanism behind the observed phenotypes.

Recent Publications