Dr. Linda Wordeman

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University of Washington
School of Medicine
Physiology and Biophysics
Professor
Professional Headshot of Linda Wordeman

Mailing Address

Department of Physiology and Biophysics
University of Washington School of Medicine
Seattle, Washington 98195-7290
United States

Contact Information

Phone: (206) 543-4135
Fax: (206) 685-0619
worde@u.washington.edu
http://faculty.washington.edu/worde/

Qualifications

Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Molecular and Cellular Biology, 1988.
B.A. (Honors), University of California, Berkeley, Molecular Biology, 1982.

Expertise and Research Interests

Our lab studies the interplay of microtubule dynamics and chromosome segregation during cell division. Mitotic centromere-associated kinesin (MCAK) which is a kinesin-13 family member and a potent depolymerizer of microtubules is a primary focus of the lab. We are interested in its role during interphase and mitosis, its role at the kinetochore in dividing cells, and its mechanism of microtubule depolymerization. We use siRNA depletions and dominant negative mutant proteins in conjunction with live cell imaging to assess the cellular function of MCAK. Furthermore, we use TIRF microscopy and laser trapping in collaboration with Dr. Chip Asbury at the Univ. of Washington to examine the behavior and mechanism of action of single molecules of MCAK. We employ similar techniques to study other families of kinesin-related motor proteins and their role in cellular processes.

Keywords

COS Keywords:

Biological Sciences, Health and Medicine, Mitosis, Zoology.

Additional Terms:

Kinesin, Kinetochore.

Memberships

American Society for Cell Biology
Biophysical Society
Microscopy Society of America
Society of General Physiologists

Publications

  • Gestaut DR, Graczyk B, Cooper J, Widlund PO, Zelter A, Wordeman L, Asbury CL, Davis TN (Apr 2008) Phosphoregulation and depolymerization-driven movement of the Dam1 complex do not require ring formation., Nature cell biology, 10 (4), 407-14 Abstract
  • Stumpff J, von Dassow G, Wagenbach M, Asbury C, Wordeman L (Feb 2008) The kinesin-8 motor Kif18A suppresses kinetochore movements to control mitotic chromosome alignment., Developmental cell, 14 (2), 252-62 Abstract
  • Wordeman L, Wagenbach M, von Dassow G (Dec 2007) MCAK facilitates chromosome movement by promoting kinetochore microtubule turnover., The Journal of cell biology, 179 (5), 869-79 Abstract
  • Davis TN, Wordeman L (Aug 2007) Rings, bracelets, sleeves, and chevrons: new structures of kinetochore proteins., Trends in cell biology, 17 (8), 377-82 Abstract
  • Manning AL, Ganem NJ, Bakhoum SF, Wagenbach M, Wordeman L, Compton DA (Aug 2007) The kinesin-13 proteins Kif2a, Kif2b, and Kif2c/MCAK have distinct roles during mitosis in human cells., Molecular biology of the cell, 18 (8), 2970-9 Abstract
  • Stumpff J, Wordeman L (May 2007) Chromosome congression: the kinesin-8-step path to alignment., Current biology : CB, 17 (9), R326-8 Abstract
  • Stumpff J, Cooper J, Domnitz S, Moore AT, Rankin KE, Wagenbach M, Wordeman L (2007) In vitro and in vivo analysis of microtubule-destabilizing kinesins., Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.), 392, 37-49 Abstract
  • Moore AT, Rankin KE, von Dassow G, Peris L, Wagenbach M, Ovechkina Y, Andrieux A, Job D, Wordeman L (May 2005) MCAK associates with the tips of polymerizing microtubules., The Journal of Cell Biology, 169 (3), 391-7 Abstract
  • Wordeman L (Feb 2005) Microtubule-depolymerizing kinesins., Current Opinion in Cell Biology, 17 (1), 82-8 Abstract
  • Moore A, Wordeman L (Oct 2004) C-terminus of mitotic centromere-associated kinesin (MCAK) inhibits its lattice-stimulated ATPase activity., The Biochemical Journal, 383 (Pt 2), 227-35 Abstract
  • Moore A, Wordeman L (Oct 2004) The mechanism, function and regulation of depolymerizing kinesins during mitosis., Trends in Cell Biology, 14 (10), 537-46 Abstract
  • Lawrence CJ, Dawe RK, Christie KR, Cleveland DW, Dawson SC, Endow SA, Goldstein LS, Goodson HV, Hirokawa N, Howard J, Malmberg RL, McIntosh JR, Miki H, Mitchison TJ, Okada Y, Reddy AS, Saxton WM, Schliwa M, Scholey JM, Vale RD, Walczak CE, Wordeman L (Oct 2004) A standardized kinesin nomenclature., The Journal of Cell Biology, 167 (1), 19-22 Abstract
  • Newton CN, Wagenbach M, Ovechkina Y, Wordeman L, Wilson L (Aug 2004) MCAK, a Kin I kinesin, increases the catastrophe frequency of steady-state HeLa cell microtubules in an ATP-dependent manner in vitro., Febs Letters, 572 (1-3), 80-4 Abstract
  • Andrews PD, Ovechkina Y, Morrice N, Wagenbach M, Duncan K, Wordeman L, Swedlow JR (Feb 2004) Aurora B regulates MCAK at the mitotic centromere., Developmental Cell, 6 (2), 253-68 Abstract
  • Wordeman L (Nov 2003) Breathing down the neck of Unc104., The Journal of Cell Biology, 163 (4), 693-5 Abstract
  • Ovechkina Y, Wordeman L (Jun 2003) Unconventional motoring: an overview of the Kin C and Kin I kinesins., Traffic (copenhagen, Denmark), 4 (6), 367-75 Abstract
  • Hunter AW, Caplow M, Coy DL, Hancock WO, Diez S, Wordeman L, Howard J (Feb 2003) The kinesin-related protein MCAK is a microtubule depolymerase that forms an ATP-hydrolyzing complex at microtubule ends., Molecular Cell, 11 (2), 445-57 Abstract
  • Ovechkina Y, Wagenbach M, Wordeman L (Nov 2002) K-loop insertion restores microtubule depolymerizing activity of a "neckless" MCAK mutant., The Journal of Cell Biology, 159 (4), 557-62 Abstract
  • Maney T, Wagenbach M, Wordeman L (Sep 2001) Molecular dissection of the microtubule depolymerizing activity of mitotic centromere-associated kinesin., The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 276 (37), 34753-8 Abstract
  • Ginkel LM, Wordeman L (2001) Expression cloning with pan kinesin antibodies., Methods in Molecular Biology (clifton, N.j.), 164, 21-41 Abstract
  • Saffery R, Irvine DV, Griffiths B, Kalitsis P, Wordeman L, Choo KH, Human centromeres and neocentromeres show identical distribution patterns of >20 functionally important kinetochore-associated proteins, Human Molecular Genetics, 9(2), 175-85, Jan 2000 Abstract
  • Wordeman L, Wagenbach M, Using antisense technology to study mitosis, Methods in Cell Biology, 61, 245-66, 1999 Abstract
  • Wordeman L, Wagenbach M, Maney T, Mutations in the ATP-binding domain affect the subcellular distribution of mitotic centromere-associated kinesin (MCAK), Cell Biology International, 23(4), 275-86, 1999 Abstract
  • Maney T, Hunter AW, Wagenbach M, Wordeman L, Mitotic centromere-associated kinesin is important for anaphase chromosome segregation, Journal of Cell Biology, 142(3), 787-801, August 1998 Abstract
  • Faulkner NE, Vig B, Echeverri CJ, Wordeman L, Vallee RB, Localization of motor-related proteins and associated complexes to active, but not inactive, centromeres, Human Molecular Genetics, 7(4), 671-7, April 1998 Abstract
  • Wordeman L, Earnshaw WC, Bernat RL, Disruption of CENP antigen function perturbs dynein anchoring to the mitotic kinetochore, Chromosoma, 104(8), 551-60, June 1996 Abstract
  • Wordeman L, Mechanisms of chromosome segregation in metazoan cells, Progress in Cell Cycle Research, 1, 319-27, 1995 Abstract
  • Wordeman L, Mitchison TJ, Identification and partial characterization of mitotic centromere-associated kinesin, a kinesin-related protein that associates with centromeres during mitosis [see comments], Journal of Cell Biology, 128(1-2), 95-104, January 1995 Abstract
  • Rosenthal ET, Wordeman L, A protein similar to the 67 kDa laminin binding protein and p40 is probably a component of the translational machinery in Urechis caupo oocytes and embryos, Journal of Cell Science, 108 ( Pt 1), 245-56, January 1995 Abstract
  • Hogan CJ, Wein H, Wordeman L, Scholey JM, Sawin KE, Cande WZ, Inhibition of anaphase spindle elongation in vitro by a peptide antibody that recognizes kinesin motor domain, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), 90(14), 6611-5, July 1993 Abstract
  • Sawin KE, Mitchison TJ, Wordeman LG, Evidence for kinesin-related proteins in the mitotic apparatus using peptide antibodies, Journal of Cell Science, 101 ( Pt 2), 303-13, February 1992 Abstract
  • Wordeman L, Steuer ER, Sheetz MP, Mitchison T, Chemical subdomains within the kinetochore domain of isolated CHO mitotic chromosomes, Journal of Cell Biology, 114(2), 285-94, July 1991 Abstract
  • Hyman A, Drechsel D, Kellogg D, Salser S, Sawin K, Steffen P, Wordeman L, Mitchison T, Preparation of modified tubulins, Methods in Enzymology, 196, 478-85, 1991 Abstract
  • Steuer ER, Wordeman L, Schroer TA, Sheetz MP, Localization of cytoplasmic dynein to mitotic spindles and kinetochores, Nature, 345(6272), 266-8, May 1990 Abstract
  • Wordeman L, Cande WZ, Cytokinesis by furrowing in diatoms, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 582, 252-9, 1990 Abstract
  • Wordeman L, Davis FM, Rao PN, Cande WZ, Distribution of phosphorylated spindle-associated proteins in the diatom Stephanopyxis turris, Cell Motility and the Cytoskeleton, 12(1), 33-41, 1989 Abstract
  • Wordeman L, Cande WZ, Reactivation of spindle elongation in vitro is correlated with the phosphorylation of a 205 kd spindle-associated protein, Cell, 50(4), 535-43, August 1987 Abstract
  • Wordeman L, McDonald KL, Cande WZ, The distribution of cytoplasmic microtubules throughout the cell cycle of the centric diatom Stephanopyxis turris: their role in nuclear migration and positioning the mitotic spindle during cytokinesi, Journal of Cell Biology, 102(5), 1688-98, May 1986 Abstract
  • McDonald KL, Pfister K, Masuda H, Wordeman L, Staiger C, Cande WZ, Comparison of spindle elongation in vivo and in vitro in Stephanopyxis turris, Journal of Cell Science. Supplement, 5, 205-27, 1986 Abstract

Profile Details

Last Verified: 10/4/2008

COS Expertise ID #703047
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