Donald G. Moerman

Professor
B.Sc. (Hon.), Ph.D., Simon Fraser

MRC Postdoctoral Fellow, Genetics, Washington Univ. School of Medicine, St. Louis, U.S.A. (1980-83)
Research Associate, Washington Univ. (1983-84)
Research Assistant Professor, Washington Univ. (1985-87)

Assistant Professor, U.B.C. (1987-92)
Associate Professor, U.B.C. (1992-99)

Killam Faculty Research Fellow (1994-95)

Visiting Scientist, Max-Planck Institute for Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany (1994-95)

Research Interests

Research in my laboratory focuses on muscle development and specifically on the problem of muscle sarcomere assembly. A popular model organism to study muscle is the small free-living soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. There are several advantages in using the nematode, but the paramount one is that a rich variety of mutants with defects specific to muscle are available.

Studies on muscle mutants with defects in either thick or thin filament components suggests these components do not regulate sarcomere assembly. Recent studies implicate the dense body, the nematode analog of a vertebrate Z-line, as a key component regulating sarcomere initiation, length and orientation. Mutations in the unc-52 gene affect this structure and consequently sarcomere assembly. We have shown that the unc-52 gene encodes a basement membrane proteoglycan similar to vertebrate perlecan. The UNC-52 protein is a component of the extracellular matrix (ECM) underlying all muscle and is concentrated under the transmembrane integrin complexes which anchor muscle sarcomeres. Our current studies are directed at determining how nematode perlecan and other components of the ECM interact with muscle constituents to regulate muscle sarcomere assembly. In collaboration with other laboratories, we have shown in recent years that the muscle cell proteins UNC-112, UNC -97/PINCH, PAT-4/ILK and integrin are all essential for myofilament assembly.

Selected Publications

Rogalski, T. M., B. D. Williams, G. P. Mullen and D. G. Moerman (1993). Products of the unc-52 gene in Caenorhabditis elegans are homologous to the core protein of the mammalian basement membrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan. Genes Dev.7: 1471-1484.

Lundquist, E.A., R.K. Herman, T.M. Rogalski, G.P. Mullen, D.G. Moerman, and J.E. Shaw (1996). The mec-8 gene of C. elegans encodes a protein with two RNA recognition motifs and regulates alternative splicing of unc-52 transcripts. Development. 122: 1601-1610.

Moerman, D.G. and A. Fire (1997). Muscle: structure, function and development. pp 417-470. In: The Nematode C. elegans II, edited by D. Riddle, T. Blumenthal, B. Meyer, and J. Priess. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

Hobert, O., D.G. Moerman, K.A. Clarke, M.C. Beckerle, and G. Ruvkun (1999). A conserved LIM protein that affects muscular adherens junction integrity and mechonosensory function in Caenorhabditis elegans. J. Cell Biol. 144:45-57.

Rogalski, T.M., G.M. Mullen, M. Gilbert, B. Williams and D.G. Moerman (2000). UNC-112: a new protein required for myofilament initiation and organization in C. elegans. J. Cell Biol. 253-264.

Norman, K. and D.G. Moerman (2000). The let-268 locus of C. elegans encodes a lysyl hydroxylase essential for type IV collagen secretion. Dev. Biol. 227: 690-705.