Stuart McLaughlin

Stuart McLaughlin

 

Professor
Department of Physiology and Biophysics

Ph.D., Univeristy of British Columbia

Phone: (631) 444-3039
SMCL@epo.som.sunysb.edu

Department of Physiology & Biophysics BST 6-191

 

 


Research

Stuart McLaughlin is a biophysicist interested in signal transduction. His laboratory studies how physical factors (e.g. electrostatics, reduction of dimensionality) help produce a flow of information through the calcium/phospholipid second messenger system. Both experimental and theoretical approaches are used. For example, single molecule enzymology studies are being conducted with a phospholipase C enzyme (PLC) of known structure by combining laser tweezers and microelectrophoresis. PLC hydrolyzes the lipid phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) to produce two second messengers that activate protein kinase C (PKC). The Poisson-Boltzmann equation is solved for realistic atomic models of phospholipid bilayer membranes and the major PKC substrate MARCKS, in an attempt to understand how MARCKS sequesters PIP2, then releases the lipid upon phosphorylation by PKC, a phenomenon known as the myristoyl-electrostatic switch. The working hypothesis is that MARCKS and other proteins with clusters of basic residues could sequester much of the PIP2 in the plasma membrane of a living cell.

  • Publications
  • Laboratory Personnel
  •  
    • McLaughlin, S., Smith, S.O., Hayman, M.J., Murray, D.  2005.  An electrostatic engine model for autoinhibition and activation of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR/ErbB) family.  J. Gen. Physiol. 126, 41-53.
    • Rusu, L., Gambhir, A., McLaughlin, S., Rädler, J.   2004. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy studies of peptide and protein binding to phospholipid vesicles.   Biophys. J.   87, 1044-1053.
    • Wang, J., Gambhir, A., McLaughln, S., Murray, D.   2004.   A computational model for the electrostatic sequestration of PI(4,5)P 2 by membrane-adsorbed basic peptides.   Biophys. J. 86, 1969-1986 .
    • Gambhir, A., Hangyas-Mihalyne, G., Zaitseva, I., Cafiso, D.S., Wang, J., Murray, D., Pentyala, S.N., Smith, S.O., McLaughlin, S.   2004.   Electrostatic sequestration of PIP 2 on phospholipid membrane by basic/aromatic regions of proteins.   Biophys. J. 86, 2188-2207.
    • Zhang, W., Crocker, E. McLaughlin, S. Smith, S.O.   2003.   Binding of peptides with basic and aromatic residues to bilayer membranes.    J. Biol. Chem.   278, 21459-21466.
    • Sciorra, V.A., Rudge, S.A., Wang, J., McLaughlin, S., Engebrecht, J. Morris, A.J.   2002.   Dual role for phosphoinositides in regulation of yeast and mammalian phospholipase D enzymes. J. Cell Biol. 159, 1039-1049 .
    • Wang, J., Gambhir, A., Hangyas-Mihalyne, G., Murray, D., Golebiewska, U., McLaughlin, S. 2002.   Lateral sequestration of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate by the basic effector domain of Myristoylated Alanine-Rich C Kinase Substrate is due to nonspecific electrostatic interactions.   J. Biol. Chem. 277, 34401-34412.
    • Galneder R., Kahl V., Arbuzova A., Rebecchi M., Rädler J.O. & McLaughlin S. (2001) Microelectrophoresis of a bilayer-coated silica bead in an optical trap: Application to enzymology. Biophys. J. 80: 2298-2309
    • Wang J., Arbuzova A., Hangys-Mihalyne G. & McLaughlin S. (2001) The effector domain of myristoylated alanine-rich C kinase substrate (MARCKS) binds strongly to phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2). J. Biol. Chem. 276: 5012-5019.
    • Murray D., McLaughlin S., & Honig B. (2001) The role of electrostatic interactions in the regulation of the membrane association of G protein ß? heterodimers. J. Biol. Chem 276: 45153-45159.
    • Arbuzova A., Wang L., Wang J., Hangys-Mihalyne G., Murray D., Honig B. & McLaughlin S. (2000) Membrane binding of peptides containing both basic and aromatic residues. Experimental studies with peptides corresponding to the scaffolding region of caveolin and the effector region of MARCKS. Biochemistry. 39: 10330-10339.
    • Murray D., Arbuzova A., Hangys-Mihalyne G., Gambhir A., Ben-Tal N., Honig B. & McLaughlin S. (1999) Electrostatic properties of membranes containing acidic lipids and adsorbed basic peptides: theory and experiment. Biophys J. 77: 3176-3188.
    • Murray D., Hermida-Matsumoto L., Buser C.A., Tsang J., Sigal C., Ben-Tal N., Honig B., Resh M.D., & McLaughlin S. (1998) Electrostatics mediates the membrane association of Src: Theory and experiment. Biochemistry 37: 2145-2159.
    • Arbuzova A., Wang J., Murray D., Jacob J., Cafiso D.S., & McLaughlin S. (1997) Kinetics of interaction of the myristoylated alanine-rich C kinase substrate, membranes, and calmodulin. J. Biol. Chem. 272: 27167-27177.
  •  Jiayo Wang - Graduate Student
  • Alok Gambhir - M.D.-Ph.D. Student
  • Urszula Golebiewska - Graduate Student
  • Gongyi Hangys-Mihalyne - Research Associate
  • Tami Goldberg - Project Staff Assistant