Amy Gladfelter, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry
| Contact Information |
| Phone: (603) 646-8706 |
| Fax: (603) 646-1347 |
| Labphone: (603) 646-8704 |
| Email Address: Amy.Gladfelter@Dartmouth.edu |
| Website: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~gladfelterlab/ |
Postal Address |
| Amy Gladfelter |
| Department of Biology, HB6044 |
| Gilman Hall |
| Dartmouth College |
| Hanover, NH 03755 |
Shipping Address |
| Amy Gladfelter |
| Gilman Hall |
| Dartmouth College |
| Hanover, NH 03755 |
Education |
| AB in Molecular Biology, Princeton University, 1996 |
| PhD in Genetics, Duke University, 2001 |
| Post-doctoral training in cell biology, Biozentrum-University of Basel, Switzerland, 2001-2005 |
Program Membership |
| Cancer Mechanisms Research Program |
Department Membership |
| Biology |
Graduate Training Program Affiliation |
| Molecular and Cellular Biology |
Biography |
| Dr. Gladfelter worked in the laboratory of Bonnie Bassler at Princeton University (1995-1996) where her undergraduate honors thesis research was on quorum sensing in bacteria. She did her PhD thesis research on cell polarity and septin organization in budding yeast in the laboratory of Daniel Lew at Duke University (1997-2001). She was an NSF post-doctoral fellow from 2002-2005 and a Roche Research Foundation fellow from 2002-2003. She has been an Assistant Professor of biological sciences at Dartmouth College since 2005. |
Selected Publications |
| JE Irazoqui, Gladfelter AS, Lew DJ. Scaffold-mediated symmetry breaking.
Nature Cell Biology. (2003) 5(12):1062-70. JE Irazoqui, Gladfelter AS, Lew DJ. Cdc42p, GTP Hydrolysis, and the Cell's Sense of Direction. Cell Cycle. (2004), 3(7): 861-4. AS Gladfelter, Zyla TR, Lew DJ. Genetic interactions among regulators of septin organization. Eukaryotic Cell (2004) Aug;3(4):847-54. AS Gladfelter, Kozubowski L, Zyla TR, Lew DJ. Interplay between septin organization, cell cycle and cell shape in yeast. J Cell Sci. (2005) Apr 15;118(Pt 8):1617-28. AS Gladfelter, Hungerbuehler AK and Philippsen P. Asynchronous mitoses in multinucleated cells. J Cell Biol. (2006) Jan 30;172(3):347-62. AS Gladfelter, Sustreanu N, Hungerbuehler AK, Voegeli S, Galati V, Philippsen P. The anaphase promoting complex/cyclosome(APC/C) is required for anaphase progression in multinucleated A. gossypii cells. Eukaryotic Cell (2007) Feb;6(2):182-97. |
Research / Lab Interests |
| In my laboratory, we are identifying the basic mechanisms controlling the cell division cycle in multinucleated cells, which are common in a variety of tumors. We are examining the function of a family of GTP-binding proteins called septins. These conserved, filament-forming proteins are upregulated in diverse tumors and function in targeted secretion, cell cycle control, cytokinesis and membrane compartmentalization. Little is known about how septin filaments are formed in cells or organized into higher-order structures, however their proper organization is crucial for their function. Through use of the fluorescence imaging shared resource at NCCC, we are studying the pathways that control the assembly and organization of septin filaments to understand how septins uniquely function in the specialized cell cycle of multinucleated cells. With the support of a NCCC-ACS seed grant, we are examining control of entry into the cell cycle, or G1, in multinucleated cells. In a variety of cells the length of G1 is determined by cell size and most cells are thought to have a means to sense their nucleocytoplasmic ratios as a measure of size. We are identifying the molecular basis for cell size control of G1 progression in multinucleated cells using a variety of reverse genetic, biochemical and cell biological approaches. We envision the mechanisms for size control that we identify will be applicable to understanding how the aberrant nucleocytoplasmic ratios observed in tumors arise and lead to poor clinical prognoses. |
Grants, Honors |
| National Science Foundation post-doctoral fellow in Microbiology September 2003-January 2005 |
| Roche Research Foundation post-doctoral fellowship April 2003-March 2004 |
| Swiss National Fund grant (3100A0-100734) Co-PI with Peter Philippsen, University of Basel, Switzerland April 2003-April 2006 |
