Jim O. Vigoreaux

Our lab is interested in the structural and functional properties of muscles that power oscillatory systems, namely the insect flight muscle and the vertebrate cardiac muscle. We use classical and molecular genetic approaches to study the function of various contractile proteins of the indirect flight muscles (IFM) of Drosophila melanogaster. Our goal is to understand how individual proteins contribute to the structural stability and mechanical properties of the muscle fiber, and to the function of the flight system. This research combines biochemical techniques to analyze protein function, cell imaging techniques to analyze muscle ultrastructure, bioengineering techniques to analyze muscle mechanical properties, and entire flight system measurements. The second area of interest is thin filament regulation of cardiac muscle contraction. A major goal of this research is to understand how changes in phosphorylation of troponin I affect the contractile properties of the heart.

Selected Publications

• Barton, B, Ayer, G., Maughan, D. W., and Vigoreaux, J. O. (2007) Site Directed Mutagenesis of Drosophila Flightin Disrupts Phosphorylation and Impairs Flight Muscle Structure and Mechanics. J. Muscle Res Cell Motil, 28: 219-230.

• Miller, M.S., P. Lekkas, J. M. Braddock, G. P. Farman, B. Ballif, T. C. Irving, D. W. Maughan, and J. O. Vigoreaux (2008) Aging enhances indirect flight muscle fiber performance yet decreases flight ability in Drosophila. Biophys. J. in press.

• Previs, M. J., VanBuren, P., Begin, K. J., Vigoreaux, J. O., LeWinter, M. M., and Matthews, D. E. (2008) Absolute Quantification of Protein Phosphorylation by Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry. Anal Chem., Submitted.

• Barton, B. and Vigoreaux, J. (2006) Novel myosin associated proteins, in Nature's Versatile Engine: Insect Flight Muscle Inside and Out, Vigoreaux, J. editor, Springer/Landes Bioscience, New York/Georgetown. pp 86-96.

• Henkin, J. and Vigoreaux, J. (2006) Mapping myofibrillar protein interactions by mutational proteomics, in Nature's Versatile Engine: Insect Flight Muscle Inside and Out, Vigoreaux, J. editor, Springer/Landes Bioscience, New York/Georgetown. pp 270-283.

• Vishnudas, V. and Vigoreaux, J. (2006) Achieving sustained performance: possible strategies for coordinating energetic supply and demand, in Nature's Versatile Engine: Insect Flight Muscle Inside and Out, Vigoreaux, J. editor, Springer/Landes Bioscience, New York/Georgetown. pp 188-196.

• Vigoreaux, J. (2006) Molecular basis of muscle structure, in Muscle Development in Drosophila, H. Sink, editor. Springer/Landes Bioscience, New York/Georgetown. pp 143-156.

• Maughan, D. and Vigoreaux, J. (2005) Nature's strategy for optimizing power generation in insect flight muscle. Adv. Exp. Med. Biol., 565: 157-166; discussion 167, 371-377 (also in Mysteries about the sliding filament mechanism: Fifty years after its proposal, Sugi, H, editor. Kluwer Press).

• Barton, B., Ayer, G., Heymann, G. Maughan, D. Lehmann, F., and Vigoreaux, J. O. (2005) Flight muscle properties and aerodynamic performance of Drosophila expressing a flightin transgene. J. Exp. Biol., 208: 549-560.

• Swank, D. and Vigoreaux, J. O. (2004) The Development of the Flight and Leg Muscle. In Comprehensive Molecular Insect Science. Volume 2, 45-84. Gilbert, L.I., Iatrou, K., and Gill, S. editors. Elsevier, Oxford.

• Henkin, J., Maughan, D. W. and Vigoreaux, J. O. (2004) Mutations that affect flightin expression in Drosophila alter the viscoelastic properties of flight muscle fibers. Amer. J. Physiol., Cell Physiol., 286: C65-C72.

• Nongthomba, U., Cummins, M, Clark, S., Vigoreaux, J. O., and Sparrow, J. C. (2003) Suppression of the muscle hypercontraction phenotype by mutations in the myosin heavy chain gene of Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 164: 209-222.

• Vigoreaux, J. O. (2001) Genetics of the Drosophila flight muscle myofibril: A window into the biology of complex systems. BioEssays 23: 1047-1063.

• Reedy, M. C., Bullard, B., and Vigoreaux, J. O. (2000) Flightin is essential for thick filament assembly and sarcomere stability in Drosophila flight muscles. J. Cell Biol. 151: 1483-1500.

• Moore, J. R., Dickinson, M. H., Vigoreaux, J. O., and Maughan, D. W. (2000) Removal of the 46 amino acid N-terminal extension of the Drosophila myosin regulatory light chain has little effect on the stretch activation response of the indirect flight muscles. Biophys J. 78: 1431-1440.

• Maughan, D. W. and Vigoreaux, J. O. (1999) An integrative view of insect flight muscle: genes, motor molecules and motion. News In Physiol. Science. 14, 87-92.

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