Assistant Professor, Department of Biology
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Education:
Ph.D., Neuroscience, University of Virginia, 1999
B.A., Letters and Biopsychology, Wesleyan University, 1987

Career Highlights:
Prior to joining the Rensselaer faculty in 2006, Ligon completed graduate studies at the University of Virginia and postdoctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania.

Among the honors and awards she has received are a National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health, an Alavi-Dabiri Fellowship Award, and a Porter Symposium Award from the Society of General Physiologists. Her graduate work was also recognized with the prestigious President’s Fellowship and Dean’s Merit Fellowship at the University of Virginia.

Ligon has been invited to speak at several national scientific meetings including the 2005 American Society for Cell Biology, the 2005 Keystone Symposium on Cytoskeletal Systems Interactions in Cellular Morphogenesis, the 2002 Keystone Symposium on Cellular Motility and Signaling in the Wiring and Plasticity of the Nervous System and the 2001 Gordon Research Conference on Motile and Contractile Systems. In addition, she has given seminars at many colleges and universities, including Emory University, Dartmouth College, Haverford College and Thomas Jefferson University.

Research Areas:
Ligon’s research is focused on cytoskeletal organization and dynamics with an emphasis on the microtubule cytoskeleton. Microtubules have several functions in the cell: they are mechanical and structural elements; they serve as tracks for long-distance movements of organelles and other cargoes; and they can play a direct role in biochemical signaling cascades. The Ligon laboratory uses a combination of live-cell imaging and other cell biological, biochemical and molecular techniques to examine cytoskeletal dynamics and interactions in the context of the living cell. She is particularly interested in how the cell regulates the balance between adhesion and motility and the role of the cytoskeleton in this process. The regulation of this balance is critical during development, but is also important for proper functioning in the mature organism. Disregulation of this balance can lead to tumorigenesis and metastasis, and the work in Ligon’s lab addresses fundamental questions in cell biology, development and the biology of cancer.

Selected Publications:
L.A. Ligon, S. Shelly, M. Tokito, and E.L.F. Holzbaur, “Microtubule binding proteins CLIP-170, EB1, and p150Glued form distinct plus-end complexes,” FEBS Letters, in press (2006).

J. Levy, C. Sumner, J. Caviston, M. Tokito, S. Ranganathan, L.A. Ligon, K.E. Wallace, B. LaMonte, G. Harmison, I.Puls, K.H. Fishbeck and E.L.F. Holzbaur, “A Motor Neuron Disease-Associated Mutation in p150Glued Perturbs Dynactin Function and Induces Protein Aggregation, Journal of Cell Biology, in press, (2006).

L.A. Ligon and E.L.F. Holzbaur, “Target and Delivery: Dynein Tethers Microtubules at Cell-Cell Contacts to Facilitate Adherens Junction Assembly,” (in revision).

L.A. Ligon, B.H. LaMonte, K.E. Wallace, N. Weber, R.G. Kalb and E.L.F. Holzbaur, “Mutant superoxide dismutase disrupts cytoplasmic dynein in motor neurons,” NeuroReport 16(6):533-536, 2005.

L.A. Ligon, M. Tokito, J.M. Finklestein, F.E. Grossman, and E.L.F. Holzbaur, “A Direct Interaction Between Cytoplasmic Dynein and Kinesin I May Coordinate Motor Activity,” Journal of Biological Chemistry, 279(18) 19201-8, 2004.

L.A. Ligon, S. Shelly, M. Tokito, and E.L.F. Holzbaur, “The Microtubule Plus-End Proteins EB1 and Dynactin Have Differential Effects on Microtubule Polymerization,” Molecular Biology of the Cell, 14 (4) 1405-17, 2003.

S. Karki, L.A. Ligon, J. DeSantis, M. Tokito, and E.L.F. Holzbaur, “PLAC-24: A Novel Protein that Binds to Dynein and Localizes to Cell-Cell Contacts,” Molecular Biology of the Cell, 13(5) 1722-34, 2002.

L.A. Ligon, S. Karki, M. Tokito, and E.L.F. Holzbaur, “Dynein Binds to β-Catenin and May Tether Microtubules at Adherens Junctions,” Nature Cell Biology, 3(10) 913-917, 2001.

E.A. Holleran, L.A. Ligon, M. Tokito, M.C. Stankewich, J.S. Morrowand E.L.F. Holzbaur, “β-III Spectrin Binds To The Arp1 Subunit Of Dynactin,” Journal of Biological Chemistry, 276(39) 36598-605, 2001.

L.A. Ligon and O. Steward, “Movement of Mitochondria in the Axons and Dendrites of Cultured Hippocampal Neurons,” Journal of Comparative Neurology 427(3) 340-350, 2000.

L.A. Ligon and O. Steward, “Role of Microtubules and Actin Filaments in the Movement of Mitochondria in the Axons and Dendrites of Cultured Hippocampal Neurons,” Journal of Comparative Neurology” 427(3) 351-361, 2000.

Contact Information:
Lee Ligon
ligonl@rpi.edu