Jolanta Kordowska, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral research fellow

Education
Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland, 1992

Lab
Albert Wang

Research Interests
Application of biochemistry and cell biology to the study of the structure and function of calcium binding proteins and caldesmon.

Smooth muscle builds the walls of hollow organs such as the blood vessels or gastrointestinal tract. Dysfunction leads to serious health problems e.g. hypertension or atherosclerosis. I apply cell biology, molecular biology and biochemical techniques to obtain information on the structure and function of caldesmon and S100 proteins present in smooth muscle and non-muscle cells.

Non-muscle caldesmon associates with actin filaments in vivo but the physiological role of this interaction in non-muscle cells is not well understood yet. In order to visualize the intracellular localization of CaD with respect to other proteins we have used green fluorescent protein as a tag. We attempt to test whether there are other molecules interacting with CaD in vivo and to better understand its role in cell migration and cell division.

S100 proteins are small EF-hand Ca2+ binding proteins. They are present in large amounts in different tumors and in tissues changed by inflammation or neurodegenerative disorders. None of the functions of S100 proteins are known. My work has been focused on S100A6 (calcyclin). It occurs in fibroblasts, and in epithelial and smooth muscle cells. The physico-chemical properties and Ca2+ and Zn2+ binding of S100A6 were determined. Protein crystal structurewas solved in collaboration with R. Dominguez group. By screening a phage display library, we have also obtained a target peptide sequence whichmay help us to design experiments to reveal intracellular S100A6 function.

Recent Publications:
Otterbein L. R., Kordowska J., Witte-Hoffmann, C.,Wang C-L.A. and R. Dominguez. (2002) Crystal structures of human S100A6 in the Ca2+ free and Ca2+ bound states: the Ca2+ sensor mechanism of S100 proteins revealed at atomic resolution. Structure 10(4):557-67.

Kordowska J. and Wang C-L.A. (2001) Subcellular localization of calcyclin in mammalian cells and its functional implications. Current Topics in Biochemical Research 4:149-165.

Kordowska J., Stafford W. and Wang C-L.A. (1998) Ca2+ and Zn2+ bind to different sites and induce different conformational changes in human calcyclin. Eur. J. Biochem. 253(1):57-66.

Wang E., Zhuang S., Kordowska J., Grabarek Z. and Wang C-L.A. (1997) Calmodulin binds to caldesmon in an antiparallel manner. Biochemistry 36(48):15026-34.

Golitsina, N., Kordowska, J., Wang, C.L.A. and Lehrer, S.S. (1996) Ca2+-dependent binding of calcyclin to muscle tropomyosin. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 220(2):360-5.

Contact Details:
email:jola@bbri.org, tel. 617-658-7825