HAMM Lab postdoc, Christian Mandrycky, was invited to present his work at the Cardiovascular Biology Breakfast Club Seminar Series on the spookiest day of the year– October 31, 2024 — Halloween!

Talk Title: Modeling distal arthrogryposis with stem cell derived skeletal muscle

Christian brought the Halloween spirit to work, dressing as the muscle contractile protein, myosin during his presentation. He provided a live demonstration of how the 2 heads of a myosin protein (his hands) shift position during the cycle of myosin binding to and moving along the filament protein actin, with the binding, hydrolysis, and release of the energy molecule ATP (called the crossbridge cycle). The act was educational and entertaining!

Christian’s work in the HAMM Lab, as a jointly mentored postdoc by Mike Regnier and Davick Mack, focuses on the study of a rare form of muscle disease called distal arthrogryposis, which causes individuals to have congenital muscle contractures in the hands, feet, and face/neck. He uses stem cells containing genetic mutations in the myosin protein known to result in the disease to differentiate to skeletal muscle for his work to understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms of the disease.