David Morgan
University of California-San Francisco, CA·Biochemistry
Every time a cell divides, it must copy its chromosomes and then split them evenly between two daughter cells, in the right order and at the right time. Mistakes can leave cells with damaged DNA or the wrong number of chromosomes, which can speed cancer progression or cause developmental defects.
- Fields
Biochemistry
Biology
Biophysics
- Topics
cell cycle
cell biology
biochemistry
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Feb 2031
What they work on
- Determine how cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks), enzymes that tag proteins with phosphates, build complex multisite phosphorylation patterns on their substrates in the eukaryotic cell cycle, using biochemical approaches.
- Define the role of a newly discovered phosphate-binding site on the surface of mitotic cyclins in Cdk-driven activation of the APC/C, the enzyme that triggers destruction of key cell-cycle regulators.
- Use biochemical and structural approaches to learn how separase, the protease released when securin is destroyed, recognizes and cuts cohesin and other substrates in late mitosis.
- Develop methods to identify and characterize previously unknown separase substrates.
More about the research
This project studies the molecular control system that sets the order of these events in eukaryotic cells (cells with a nucleus).
Why it matters
Errors in chromosome segregation can cause genetic damage or abnormal chromosome numbers, which can accelerate cancer and cause developmental defects. Clarifying how Cdks, the APC/C and separase time cell division could improve understanding of how these errors arise in diseases such as cancer, where cell-cycle control is defective, and may illuminate regulatory mechanisms used broadly across cell biology.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Michael James Emanuele
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC·Biochemistry
Define the wave of protein destruction occurring in G2 and at the G2-to-mitosis transition, determining which proteins are degraded and when, and how the phosphate-adding enzyme PLK1 controls this program, using proteomics and cell-based assays.
Robert McGinty
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC·Biochemistry
Define how combinations of histone post-translational modifications recruit reader proteins across the proteome, using designer nucleosomes with chemically defined modification patterns in interactome screens.
Ajit Joglekar
University of Michigan, MI·Biology
Measure the rate at which a single unattached kinetochore generates the Spindle Assembly Checkpoint 'wait-anaphase' signal, using quantitative experimental data.
The school
University of California-San Francisco: 89 labs on PI Pages, $2.1B a year on research, 164 research doctorates a year.
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