Regulation of organelle motility

Christina King Smith, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Department of Biology, Saint Joseph's University

I am also interested in the regulation of pigment granule movements. I have used fluorescent calcium dyes to measure calcium dynamics in cells during pigment granule movements. Interestingly, pigment granule movement in teleost retinal pigment epithelia (RPE) is not associated with a change in intracellular calcium concentration, although calcium has been shown in other systems to regulate movement of pigment granules.

In isolated RPE cells, pigment granule movements can be elicited by the extracellular application and washout of underivatized cAMP. Another area of interest is to determine whether cAMP concentration inside cells rises, and is associated with the movement of pigment granules.

Relevant Publications

King-Smith, C. and T. W. Cronin. 1996. Pigment granule migration in crustacean photoreceptors requires calcium. Visual Neuroscience 13:43-49.

To visit other pages

• Cytoskeletal Mechanisms of Organelle Motility
• Dr. King Smith's Home Page

• SJU Biology Home Page

• Saint Joseph's University Home Page

To send e-mail to Dr. King Smith at csmith@sju.edu

Last revision: 2/11/99
Address: http://www.sju.edu/biology/csmith2.htm
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