Dyche Mullins, PhD
Professor
Cellular Molecular Pharmacology
School of Medicine

Dyche Mullins studies the assembly and regulation of cytoskeletal networks—collections of molecules used by living cells to move molecular cargo, establish polarity, and propel themselves forward. Understanding how cells construct their internal molecular "skeletons" is key to understanding a wide variety of biological processes and human diseases.

Websites

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• @@MullinsLab on Twitter (twitter.com)

Videos

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• A self-assembling motor for pushing membranes (youtube.com)

Grants and Projects

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• Assembly and function of cytoskeletal systems in eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells, NIH, 2016-2021
• Bio-Organic Biomedical Mass Spectrometry Resource, NIH, 1982-2015
• Resource for Biocomputing, Visualization, and Informatics, NIH/NCRR, 1976-2012

Publications (82)

Top publication keywords:
Microscopy, FluorescenceActin CytoskeletonActin-Related Protein 2-3 ComplexPlasmidsPseudopodiaCell MovementCytoskeletonActin-Related Protein 2TropomyosinMicrofilament ProteinsWiskott-Aldrich Syndrome Protein FamilyActin-Related Protein 3Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome ProteinCytoskeletal ProteinsActins

• Archaeal actins and the origin of a multi-functional cytoskeleton.
  Journal of bacteriology 2024 Charles-Orszag A, Petek-Seoane NA, Mullins RD
• Sulfolobus acidocaldarius adhesion pili power twitching motility in the absence of a dedicated retraction ATPase.
  bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology 2023 Charles-Orszag A, van Wolferen M, Lord SJ, Albers SV, Mullins RD
• Quantitative Proteomic Analysis Reveals apoE4-Dependent Phosphorylation of the Actin-Regulating Protein VASP.
  Molecular & cellular proteomics : MCP 2023 Cakir Z, Lord SJ, Zhou Y, Jang GM, Polacco BJ, Eckhardt M, Jimenez-Morales D, Newton BW, Orr AL, Johnson JR, da Cruz A, Mullins RD, Krogan NJ, Mahley RW, Swaney DL
• The surfaceome of multiple myeloma cells suggests potential immunotherapeutic strategies and protein markers of drug resistance.
  Nature communications 2022 Ferguson ID, Patiño-Escobar B, Tuomivaara ST, Lin YT, Nix MA, Leung KK, Kasap C, Ramos E, Nieves Vasquez W, Talbot A, Hale M, Naik A, Kishishita A, Choudhry P, Lopez-Girona A, Miao W, Wong SW, Wolf JL…
• High-Temperature Live-Cell Imaging of Cytokinesis, Cell Motility, and Cell-Cell Interactions in the Thermoacidophilic Crenarchaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius.
  Frontiers in microbiology 2021 Charles-Orszag A, Lord SJ, Mullins RD

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• Protomer alignment modulates specificity of RNA substrate recognition by Ire1.
  eLife 2021 Li W, Crotty K, Garrido Ruiz D, Voorhies M, Rivera C, Sil A, Mullins RD, Jacobson MP, Peschek J, Walter P
• The Global Phosphorylation Landscape of SARS-CoV-2 Infection.
  Cell 2020 Bouhaddou M, Memon D, Meyer B, White KM, Rezelj VV, Correa Marrero M, Polacco BJ, Melnyk JE, Ulferts S, Kaake RM, Batra J, Richards AL, Stevenson E, Gordon DE, Rojc A, Obernier K, Fabius JM, Soucheray…
• Initiation and disassembly of filopodia tip complexes containing VASP and lamellipodin.
  Molecular biology of the cell 2020 Cheng KW, Mullins RD
• SuperPlots: Communicating reproducibility and variability in cell biology.
  The Journal of cell biology 2020 Lord SJ, Velle KB, Mullins RD, Fritz-Laylin LK
• Epi-illumination SPIM for volumetric imaging with high spatial-temporal resolution.
  Nature methods 2019 Yang B, Chen X, Wang Y, Feng S, Pessino V, Stuurman N, Cho NH, Cheng KW, Lord SJ, Xu L, Xie D, Mullins RD, Leonetti MD, Huang B
• From solution to surface to filament: actin flux into branched networks.
  Biophysical reviews 2018 Mullins RD, Bieling P, Fletcher DA
• LC3 and STRAP regulate actin filament assembly by JMY during autophagosome formation.
  The Journal of cell biology 2018 Hu X, Mullins RD
• WH2 and proline-rich domains of WASP-family proteins collaborate to accelerate actin filament elongation.
  The EMBO journal 2017 Bieling P, Hansen SD, Akin O, Li TD, Hayden CC, Fletcher DA, Mullins RD
• Actin-based protrusions of migrating neutrophils are intrinsically lamellar and facilitate direction changes.
  eLife 2017 Fritz-Laylin LK, Riel-Mehan M, Chen BC, Lord SJ, Goddard TD, Ferrin TE, Nicholson-Dykstra SM, Higgs H, Johnson GT, Betzig E, Mullins RD
• Our evolving view of cell motility.
  Cell cycle (Georgetown, Tex.) 2017 Fritz-Laylin LK, Lord SJ, Mullins RD
• WASP and SCAR are evolutionarily conserved in actin-filled pseudopod-based motility.
  The Journal of cell biology 2017 Fritz-Laylin LK, Lord SJ, Mullins RD
• Force Feedback Controls Motor Activity and Mechanical Properties of Self-Assembling Branched Actin Networks.
  Cell 2016 Bieling P, Li TD, Weichsel J, McGorty R, Jreij P, Huang B, Fletcher DA, Mullins RD
• Comparative analysis of tools for live cell imaging of actin network architecture.
  Bioarchitecture 2015 Belin BJ, Goins LM, Mullins RD
• Lamellipodin promotes actin assembly by clustering Ena/VASP proteins and tethering them to actin filaments.
  eLife 2015 Hansen SD, Mullins RD
• DNA damage induces nuclear actin filament assembly by Formin -2 and Spire-½ that promotes efficient DNA repair. [corrected].
  eLife 2015 Belin BJ, Lee T, Mullins RD
• Arp2/3 complex and cofilin modulate binding of tropomyosin to branched actin networks.
  Current biology : CB 2015 Hsiao JY, Goins LM, Petek NA, Mullins RD
• A novel tropomyosin isoform functions at the mitotic spindle and Golgi in Drosophila.
  Molecular biology of the cell 2015 Goins LM, Mullins RD
• Design of reversible, cysteine-targeted Michael acceptors guided by kinetic and computational analysis.
  Journal of the American Chemical Society 2014 Krishnan S, Miller RM, Tian B, Mullins RD, Jacobson MP, Taunton J
• Accessory factors promote AlfA-dependent plasmid segregation by regulating filament nucleation, disassembly, and bundling.
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2014 Polka JK, Kollman JM, Mullins RD
• Bacterial actin-like proteins: purification and characterization of self-assembly properties.
  Methods in enzymology 2014 Petek NA, Mullins RD
• αE-catenin actin-binding domain alters actin filament conformation and regulates binding of nucleation and disassembly factors.
  Molecular biology of the cell 2013 Hansen SD, Kwiatkowski AV, Ouyang CY, Liu H, Pokutta S, Watkins SC, Volkmann N, Hanein D, Weis WI, Mullins RD, Nelson WJ
• What we talk about when we talk about nuclear actin.
  Nucleus (Austin, Tex.) 2013 Belin BJ, Mullins RD
• Visualization of actin filaments and monomers in somatic cell nuclei.
  Molecular biology of the cell 2013 Belin BJ, Cimini BA, Blackburn EH, Mullins RD
• Arp2/3 complex ATP hydrolysis promotes lamellipodial actin network disassembly but is dispensable for assembly.
  The Journal of cell biology 2013 Ingerman E, Hsiao JY, Mullins RD
• Cytoplasmic actin: purification and single molecule assembly assays.
  Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) 2013 Hansen SD, Zuchero JB, Mullins RD
• In vitro studies of actin filament and network dynamics.
  Current opinion in cell biology 2012 Mullins RD, Hansen SD
• Graduate education. Interdisciplinary graduate training in teaching labs.
  Science (New York, N.Y.) 2012 Vale RD, DeRisi J, Phillips R, Mullins RD, Waterman C, Mitchison TJ
• The instability of stabilization.
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2012 Mullins RD
• Actin binding to WH2 domains regulates nuclear import of the multifunctional actin regulator JMY.
  Molecular biology of the cell 2012 Zuchero JB, Belin B, Mullins RD
• Architecture and assembly of a divergent member of the ParM family of bacterial actin-like proteins.
  The Journal of biological chemistry 2011 Rivera CR, Kollman JM, Polka JK, Agard DA, Mullins RD
• VASP is a processive actin polymerase that requires monomeric actin for barbed end association.
  The Journal of cell biology 2010 Hansen SD, Mullins RD
• Cell mechanics and the cytoskeleton.
  Nature 2010 Fletcher DA, Mullins RD
• Cytoskeletal mechanisms for breaking cellular symmetry.
  Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology 2010 Mullins RD
• In silico reconstitution of actin-based symmetry breaking and motility.
  PLoS biology 2009 Dayel MJ, Akin O, Landeryou M, Risca V, Mogilner A, Mullins RD
• Structural polymorphism of the ParM filament and dynamic instability.
  Structure (London, England : 1993) 2009 Galkin VE, Orlova A, Rivera C, Mullins RD, Egelman EH
• The structure and assembly dynamics of plasmid actin AlfA imply a novel mechanism of DNA segregation.
  Journal of bacteriology 2009 Polka JK, Kollman JM, Agard DA, Mullins RD
• p53-cofactor JMY is a multifunctional actin nucleation factor.
  Nature cell biology 2009 Zuchero JB, Coutts AS, Quinlan ME, Thangue NB, Mullins RD
• Bacterial Chromosome Segregation.
  Annual review of cell and developmental biology 2009 Mullins RD
• Phosphorylation of the Arp2/3 complex is necessary to nucleate actin filaments.
  The Journal of cell biology 2008 LeClaire LL, Baumgartner M, Iwasa JH, Mullins RD, Barber DL
• Protein-nanocrystal conjugates support a single filament polymerization model in R1 plasmid segregation.
  The Journal of biological chemistry 2008 Choi CL, Claridge SA, Garner EC, Alivisatos AP, Mullins RD
• The pathogen protein EspF(U) hijacks actin polymerization using mimicry and multivalency.
  Nature 2008 Sallee NA, Rivera GM, Dueber JE, Vasilescu D, Mullins RD, Mayer BJ, Lim WA
• Capping protein increases the rate of actin-based motility by promoting filament nucleation by the Arp2/3 complex.
  Cell 2008 Akin O, Mullins RD
• Trapping fugitive filament formers.
  Structure (London, England : 1993) 2008 Mullins RD
• In vivo visualization of type II plasmid segregation: bacterial actin filaments pushing plasmids.
  The Journal of cell biology 2007 Campbell CS, Mullins RD
• Regulatory interactions between two actin nucleators, Spire and Cappuccino.
  The Journal of cell biology 2007 Quinlan ME, Hilgert S, Bedrossian A, Mullins RD, Kerkhoff E
• The structure of bacterial ParM filaments.
  Nature structural & molecular biology 2007 Orlova A, Garner EC, Galkin VE, Heuser J, Mullins RD, Egelman EH
• Spatial and temporal relationships between actin-filament nucleation, capping, and disassembly.
  Current biology : CB 2007 Iwasa JH, Mullins RD
• Reconstitution of DNA segregation driven by assembly of a prokaryotic actin homolog.
  Science (New York, N.Y.) 2007 Garner EC, Campbell CS, Weibel DB, Mullins RD
• Targeted wild-type and jerker espins reveal a novel, WH2-domain-dependent way to make actin bundles in cells.
  Journal of cell science 2006 Loomis PA, Kelly AE, Zheng L, Changyaleket B, Sekerková G, Mugnaini E, Ferreira A, Mullins RD, Bartles JR
• Actin binding to the central domain of WASP/Scar proteins plays a critical role in the activation of the Arp2/3 complex.
  The Journal of biological chemistry 2005 Kelly AE, Kranitz H, Dötsch V, Mullins RD
• Drosophila Spire is an actin nucleation factor.
  Nature 2005 Quinlan ME, Heuser JE, Kerkhoff E, Mullins RD
• Dynamic instability in a DNA-segregating prokaryotic actin homolog.
  Science (New York, N.Y.) 2004 Garner EC, Campbell CS, Mullins RD
• Activation of Arp2/3 complex: addition of the first subunit of the new filament by a WASP protein triggers rapid ATP hydrolysis on Arp2.
  PLoS biology 2004 Dayel MJ, Mullins RD
• Cellular control of actin nucleation.
  Annual review of cell and developmental biology 2002 Welch MD, Mullins RD
• Arp2/3 complex requires hydrolyzable ATP for nucleation of new actin filaments.
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2001 Dayel MJ, Holleran EA, Mullins RD
• Different WASP family proteins stimulate different Arp2/3 complex-dependent actin-nucleating activities.
  Current biology : CB 2001 Zalevsky J, Lempert L, Kranitz H, Mullins RD
• Calcium spiking activity and baseline calcium levels in ROS 17/2.8 cells exposed to extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF EMF).
  International journal of radiation biology 2001 Shahidain R, Mullins RD, Sisken JE
• Actin dynamics.
  Journal of cell science 2001 Pollard TD, Blanchoin L, Mullins RD
• Integration of multiple signals through cooperative regulation of the N-WASP-Arp2/3 complex.
  Science (New York, N.Y.) 2000 Prehoda KE, Scott JA, Mullins RD, Lim WA
• Interactions of ADF/cofilin, Arp2/3 complex, capping protein and profilin in remodeling of branched actin filament networks.
  Current biology : CB 2000 Blanchoin L, Pollard TD, Mullins RD
• Activation of the Arp2/3 complex by the Listeria acta protein. Acta binds two actin monomers and three subunits of the Arp2/3 complex.
  The Journal of biological chemistry 2000 Zalevsky J, Grigorova I, Mullins RD
• Mechanisms underlying spontaneous calcium spiking in aequorin-loaded ROS 17/2.8 cells.
  Bioelectromagnetics 2000 Mullins RD, Sisken JE
• beta-arrestin-dependent endocytosis of proteinase-activated receptor 2 is required for intracellular targeting of activated ERK1/2.
  The Journal of cell biology 2000 DeFea KA, Zalevsky J, Thoma MS, Déry O, Mullins RD, Bunnett NW
• How WASP-family proteins and the Arp2/3 complex convert intracellular signals into cytoskeletal structures.
  Current opinion in cell biology 2000 Mullins RD
• Actin assembly mediated by Arp2/3 complex and WASP family proteins.
  Methods in enzymology 2000 Mullins RD, Machesky LM
• Molecular mechanisms controlling actin filament dynamics in nonmuscle cells.
  Annual review of biophysics and biomolecular structure 2000 Pollard TD, Blanchoin L, Mullins RD
• Rho-family GTPases require the Arp2/3 complex to stimulate actin polymerization in Acanthamoeba extracts.
  Current biology : CB 1999 Mullins RD, Pollard TD
• Structure and function of the Arp2/3 complex.
  Current opinion in structural biology 1999 Mullins RD, Pollard TD
• Scar, a WASp-related protein, activates nucleation of actin filaments by the Arp2/3 complex.
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 1999 Machesky LM, Mullins RD, Higgs HN, Kaiser DA, Blanchoin L, May RC, Hall ME, Pollard TD
• The interaction of Arp2/3 complex with actin: nucleation, high affinity pointed end capping, and formation of branching networks of filaments.
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 1998 Mullins RD, Heuser JA, Pollard TD
• Arp2/3 complex from Acanthamoeba binds profilin and cross-links actin filaments.
  Molecular biology of the cell 1998 Mullins RD, Kelleher JF, Xu J, Pollard TD
• Purification and assay of the Arp2/3 complex from Acanthamoeba castellanii.
  Methods in enzymology 1998 Kelleher JF, Mullins RD, Pollard TD
• Structure, subunit topology, and actin-binding activity of the Arp2/3 complex from Acanthamoeba.
  The Journal of cell biology 1997 Mullins RD, Stafford WF, Pollard TD
• Actin' like actin?
  Trends in cell biology 1996 Mullins RD, Kelleher JF, Pollard TD
• Serum- and bradykinin-induced calcium transients in familial Alzheimer's fibroblasts.
  Neurobiology of aging 1993 McCoy KR, Mullins RD, Newcomb TG, Ng GM, Pavlínková G, Polinsky RJ, Nee LE, Sisken JE
• Altered calcium regulation in SV40-transformed Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts.
  Cell calcium 1993 Newcomb TG, Mullins RD, Sisken JE
• Design and characterization of a system for exposure of cultured cells to extremely low frequency electric and magnetic fields over a wide range of field strengths.
  Bioelectromagnetics 1993 Mullins RD, Sisken JE, Hejase HA, Sisken BF