Education
University of
Utah, Ph.D.
1998
Biography
After working
as a Research
Associate at
Oregon State
University,
Dr. Worthylake
joined the
doctoral
program at the
University of
Utah studying
Cell Biology.
She followed
this with
postdoctoral
training with
Dr. Keith
Burridge in
the Department
of Cell
Biology at the
University of
North
Carolina,
Chapel Hill.
Then Dr
Worthylake
joined LSUHSC
in 2005 as
Assistant
Professor.
The goal of
the laboratory
is to
understand how
cells migrate
throughout the
body. This is
a normal
function of
leukocytes as
they travel
between the
blood stream
and various
tissues to
fight
infection and
injury.
Pathological
inflammation
and cancer
metastasis are
two cases
where cell
migration is a
key component
of disease.
The focus is
on Rho GTPase
signaling and
cell biology
during
migration.
Research
Interests
Leukocytes,
flowing though
the
bloodstream,
respond to
infection by
migrating
across the
blood vessel
wall and into
the infected
tissue.
Leukocyte
recruitment is
an important
component of
the body's
immune defense
system;
however, when
misregulated,
inappropriate
inflammatory
responses
actually cause
a large
variety of
pathologies.
In addition,
metatstatic
tumor cells
that break
away from the
primary tumor
and colonize
growth at
distant sites
often "hijack"
the leukocyte
cell migration
and
recruitment
mechanisms.
Research
Interests--Keywords
Cell
Signaling,
Cell Biology,
Cell Migration
Teaching
Activities
Cell Signaling
Cell Biology
Cell Migration
Selected
Publications
Struckhoff AP,
Vitko JR, Rana
MK , Davis CT,
Foderingham
KE, Liu CH,
Vanhoy-Rhodes
L, Elliot S,
Zhu Y, Burow
M, Worthylake
RA. Dynamic
Regulation of
ROCK Controls
CSCR4-Driven
Tumor Cell
Adhesion
Events. J.
Cell Sci 2010
(in press)
Breslin,
JW, Maietta,
D., Kurtz, K.
Doggett, T.,
Souza, F.,
Worthylake, RA
Cortical actin
dynamics and
endothelial
barrier
function.
Microcirculation
16:
761-762. 2009.
Tumusiime
S, Rana MK,
Kher S,
Worthylake RA;
Regulation of
ROCKII by
Localization
to Membrane
Compartments
and binding to
Dynamin
I.
Biochem
Biophys Res
Comm
381:393-396;
2009
Wittchen
ES, Worthylake
RA, Kelly P,
Casey PJ,
Quilliam LA
and Burridge
K, Rap1 GTPase
inhibits
leukocyte
transmigration
by promoting
endothelial
barrier
function. J.
Biol. Chem.
280:11675-82;
2005
Worthylake
RA and
Burridge K,
RhoA and ROCK
Limit Membrane
Protrusions
during
Directed
Migration, J.
Biol. Chem
278:13578-13584,
2003
Worthylake
RA, Lemoine S,
Watson JM and
Burridge K,
RhoA is
required for
monocyte tail
retraction
during
transendothelial
migration, J.
Cell Biol
154:147-160,
2001.