Background |
Bill Brown is a Professor of Cell Biology in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, and he is a member of the Graduate Field of Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology. He received his Ph.D. in Medical Sciences from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas in 1981, where he worked with Bill Snell. After that he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in cell biology with Marilyn Farquhar at Yale University School of Medicine from 1981 to 1985. In 1985, he joined the faculty at Cornell. He was a Visiting Scientist at the Scripps Research Institute in 2003. |
Research Description |
My general research interests are in the area of eukaryotic cell biology. More specifically, I am interested in the cellular and molecular mechanisms of intracellular membrane trafficking and organelle biogenesis in animal cells. Our major focus is on the role that membrane tubules play in various intracellular trafficking events from the Golgi complex and endosomes. The existence of membrane tubules extending from these organelles is well documented, however, the functions of these tubules and the molecular mechanisms that regulate their formation are not understood. Our recent focus has been on the role that phospholipid-modifying enzymes (phospholipases and lysophospholipid acyltransferases) play in the formation of membrane tubules and their consumption by vesicle formation. To better understand the structure and function of these tubules, we have established in vitro systems in which membrane tubule formation from Golgi and endosome membranes has been reconstituted. Another approach that we take is to identify pharmacologically interesting inhibitors of membrane tubulation and trafficking. Using these approaches, and the tools of modern cell and molecular biology, we are identifying and characterizing phospholipases and lysophospholipid acyltransferases that are required for membrane tubule formation and function. |
Publications |
Drecktrah, D., K. Chambers, E. L. Racoosin, E. B. Cluett, A. Gucwa, B. Jackson, and W. J. Brown. 2003. Inhibition of a Golgi complex lysophospholipid acyltransferase induces membrane tubule formation and retrograde trafficking. Mol. Biol. Cell. 14:3459-3469.
Brown, W. J., K. Chambers, and A. Doody. 2003. Phospholipase A2 (PLA2) enzymes in membrane trafficking: mediators of membrane shape and function. Traffic. 4:214-221.
Chambers, K., and W. J. Brown. 2004. Characterization of a novel CI-976-sensitive lysophospholipid acyltransferase that is associated with the Golgi complex. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 313: 681-868.
Chan, D., M. B. Strang, B. L. Judson, and W. J. Brown. 2004 Inhibition of membrane tubule formation and trafficking by isotetrandrine, an antagonist of G-protein regulated phospholipase A2 enzymes. Mol. Biol. Cell. 15:1871-1880.
Click here to view Dr. Brown's PubMed listing. |
