Henry N. Higgs, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biochemistry
| Contact Information |
| Phone: (603) 650-1420 |
| Fax: (603) 650-1128 |
| Labphone: (603) 650-1419 |
| Email Address: Henry.N.Higgs@dartmouth.edu |
| Website : http://dms.dartmouth.edu/higgs/ |
Postal Address |
| Henry Higgs |
| Department of Biochemistry, HB7200 |
| 413 Vail Building |
| Dartmouth Medical School |
| Hanover, NH 03755-3844 |
Shipping Address |
| Henry Higgs |
| Dartmouth Medical School, Biochemistry |
| Vail Receiving, Room 405 Vail |
| Hanover, NH 03755-3844 |
Education |
| AB in Biology, Lafayette College, 1987 |
| PhD in Biochemistry, University of Washington, 1996 |
Program Membership |
| Cancer Mechanisms Research Program |
Department Membership |
| Biochemistry |
Graduate Training Program Affiliation |
| Molecular and Cellular Biology |
Biography |
| Dr. Higgs worked as a Laboratory Technician at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (1987-1988), where he was part of a team that cloned the human androgen receptor gene. He then worked in the laboratory of Pierre Chambon in Strasbourg, France (1988-1990), where he worked on mammalian general transcription factors. Dr. Higgs did his PhD work at the University of Washington with Dr. John Glomset (1990-1996), where he purified, characterized, and cloned the gene for a novel phosphatidic acid-specific phospholipase A. He stayed on as a post-doc in the Glomset lab for one year after completion of his PhD. Dr. Higgs did his post-doctoral research at the Salk Institute with Dr. Thomas Pollard (1997-2001), where he elucidated the mechanisms by which Arp2/3 complex controls actin nucleation in hematopoietic cells. He started his laboratory at Dartmouth in 2001. He is on the Editorial Board of Current Biology. |
Selected Publications |
|
Li, F., & Higgs, H. N. The mouse Formin mDia1 is a potent actin nucleation factor regulated by autoinhibition. (2003) Curr. Biol. 13(15): 1335-1340.
Li, F., & Higgs, H. N. The mouse Formin mDia1 is a potent actin nucleation factor regulated by autoinhibition. (2003) Curr. Biol. 13(15): 1335-1340. Majstoravich, S., Zhang, J., Nicholson-Dykstra, S., Linder, S., Friedrich, W., Siminovitch, K. A., & Higgs, H. N. Lymphocyte microvilli are dynamic, actin-dependent structures that do not require Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASp) for their morphology. (2004) Blood. 104(5): 1396-1403. Harris, E. S., Li, F., & Higgs, H. N. The mouse formin, FRLalpha, slows actin filament barbed end elongation, competes with capping protein, accelerates polymerization from monomers, and severs filaments. (2004) J. Biol. Chem. 279(19): 20076-20087. Li, F. & Higgs, H. N. Dissecting requirements for auto-inhibition of actin nucleation by the formin, mDia1. (2005) J. Biol. Chem. 280 (8): 6986-6992. Nicholson-Dykstra, S., Higgs, H. N., & Harris, E. S. Actin dynamics: growth from dendritic branches. (2005) Current Biology. 15(9) R346-357. Harris, E. S. & Higgs, H. N. Biochemical analysis of mammalian formin effects on actin dynamics. (2006) Methods Enzymol. 406: 190-214. Chhabra, E. S. & Higgs, H. N. (2006) INF2 is a WH2 motif-containing formin that severs actin filaments and accelerates both polymerization and depolymerization. J. Biol. Chem. 281(36):26754-26767. Harris, E. S., Rouiller, I., Hanein, D., & Higgs, H. N. (2006) Mechanistic differences in actin bundling activity of two mammalian formins, FRL1 and mDia2. J. Biol. Chem. 281 (20): 14383-14392. Kovar, D. R., Harris, E. S., Mahaffy, R., Higgs, H. N., & Pollard, T. D. Control of the assembly of ATP- and ADP-actin by formins and profilin. (2006) Cell. 124: 423-435. |
Research / Lab Interests |
| Role of formin proteins in cytokinetic actin ring assembly during cell division. Formin proteins are crucial for cytokinesis in all non-mammalian eukaryotes, but their role in mammalian cytokinesis is less clear. Part of the problem is the number of mammalian formin isoforms (15 to date). My laboratory addresses this question in several ways: 1) direct testing of individual formins and combinations of formins for cytokinesis effects by RNAi; 2) mechanistic dissection of formin regulation, with the goal of identifying cytokinetic activators; and 3) high throughput screening for chemical inhibitors of individual formin isoforms, in collaboration with Dr. Jeffrey Peterson at Fox Chase Cancer Center. We utilize the NCCC Proteomics Facility extensively in this research, and collaborate with Dr. Duane Compton on live cell microscopy of cell division. |
Grants, Honors |
| 2004-2009 NIH R01 GM069818, "Comparative molecular physiology of mammalian formins" |
| 2003-2007 Pew Scholars Award, "Mechanisms of microvillar assembly and function in lymphocytes" |
Invited Lectures |
| July 2006 FASEB Conference, Regulation & Function of Small GTPases. Saxtons River VT. |
| April 2006 Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst MA |
| April 2006 Pennsylvania Muscle Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA |
| March 2006 Department of Cell Biology, Emory University, Atlanta GA |
| Dec 2005 Cell Migration Special Sub-group. American Society for Cell Biology, San Francisco, CA. |
| Dec 2005 Minisymposium Co-chair: Formins and Arp2/3 complex. American Society for Cell Biology, San Francisco, CA. |
| Nov 2005 Department of Physiology, McGill University. Montreal Canada. |
| April 2005 Ludwig Institute, University College London. |
