Linda Musil

Ph.D., Washington University School of Medicine, 1987
Assistant Scientist, Vollum Institute
Joint Assistant Professor, Cell and Developmental Biology

Linda Musil and her colleagues combine biochemical and molecular biology approaches to study gap junction formation and function. Gap junctions are aggregations of intercellular channels that mediate the regulated transfer of small molecules and ions between adjoining cells. Present in virtually all animal cells, gap junctions are involved in a variety of fundamental processes including signal propagation in electrically excitable tissues and the regulation of cellular differentiation, growth control, and embryonic development. Our current emphasis is on the processes of gap junction assembly and degradation, both of which are highly regulated and have several unexpected features. A related interest is elucidating the signal transduction pathways whereby gap junctions influence, and are influenced by, other molecules, especially growth factors. One of the systems that we study is the vertebrate lens, an avascular, aneural organ that is uniquely dependent on gap junctions to maintain the metabolic homeostasis required for lens transparency. The goal of these studies is to understand how gap junction-mediated cell-cell communication is established and how gap junction assembly (and therefore function) is modulated in physiological and pathophysiological processes as diverse as parturition, early embryonic development, cataract, the peripheral neuropathy X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, oxidative stress, and cancer.

VanSlyke, J.K., Deschenses, S., and Musil, L.S. 2000. Intracellular transport, assembly, and degradation of ?wild-type and disease-linked mutant gap junction proteins. Mol Biol Cell. 11:1933 46.

Musil, L.S., Le, A-C., VanSlyke J.K., and Roberts, L.M. 2000. Regulation of connexin degradation as a mechanism to increase gap junction assembly and function. J Biol. Chem. 275:25207-25215.

Le, A-C, and Musil, L.S. 2001. A novel role for FGF and extracellular signal-regulated kinase in gap junction-mediated intercellular communication in the lens. J. Cell Biol. 154:197-216.

To contact Dr. Musil directly: musill@ohsu.edu