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Henry Epstein, M.D.
University of Texas Medical Branch - GalvestonDepartment: Cecil H. and Ida Green Distinguished University Chair and Professor, Neuroscience & Cell BiologyAddress: The University of Texas Medical Branch 301 University Blvd. Galveston, TX 77555-0625 Phone: 409-772-1826 Fax: 409-772-3381 Email: hepstein@utmb.edu Web: www.utmb.edu/ncb/Faculty/EpsteinHenry.html |
Education
B.A., Columbia University (1964)
M.D., Stanford University (1968)
Postdocs, Stanford, Yale, National Institute of Health, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, U.K.
Honors
Regents College Scholarship; Dernhamand Mayer Medical Scholarships; Borden Award for
Research; National Genetics Fundation Fellowship; Mellon Fellowship; NIH Carrer Development Award; Japan Society for Promotion of Science Senior Fellowship; Visiting Professor University Biocenter Basel Switz; Multiple Invited Lectures at Symposium; Conferences, Workshops
Research Topic
Structural biology of myosin filaments, molecular chaperones, and protein kinase complexes.
Research Description
Research is focused on the structure and assembly of myosin-containing filaments on the control of gene expression for myosin and other genes related to muscle development. This program uses approaches of protein biochemistry, immunochemistry, molecular biology, and electron microscopyin the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans because of its facile genetics, simple anatomy and detailed embryonic cell lineages. A new core structure for myosin filaments has been discovered.
Research on human diseases of muscle is an important area for this laboratory. The controlling expression of active myotonic dystrophy protein kinase at the molecular and cellular level are being pursued in order to understand its role in the development, regulation, and pathogenesis of multisystem disease, which affects the heart, brain, and eyes, as well as muscle.
Selected Publications
- Jin, S., Shimizu, M., Balasubramanyam, A. and Epstein, H.F. (2000) Myotonic dystrophy protein kinase (DMPK) induces actin cytoskeletal reorganization and apoptotic-like blebbing in lens cells. Cell Motil. Cytoskel. 45: 133-148.
- Shimizu, M., Wang, W., Walch, E.T., Dunne, P.W. and Epstein, H.F. (2000) Rac-1 and Raf-1 kinases, components of distinct signaling pathways, activate myotonic dystrophy protein kinase. FEBS Letters 475: 273-277.
- Liu, F., Ortiz, I., Hutagalung, A.H., Bauer, C.C., Cook, R.G. and Epstein HF. (2000) Differential assembly of Alpha and Beta- filagenins into thick filaments in Caenorhabditis elegans. J. Cell Sci. 113: 4001-4012.
- Muller, M.A., Haner, M., Ortiz, I., Aebi, U. and Epstein, H.F. (2001) STEM analysis of Caenorhabditis elegans muscle thick filaments: Evidence for microdifferentiated substructures. J. Mol. Biol. 305: 1035-1044.
- Muranyi, A., Zhang, R., Liu, F., Hirano, K., Ito, M., Epstein, H.F. and Hartshorne, D.J. (2001) Myotonic dystrophy protein kinase phosphorylates the myosin phosphatase targeting subunit and inhibits myosin phosphatase activity. FEBS Letters 493: 80-84.
- Barral, J.M., Hutagalung, A.H., Brinker, A., Hartl, F.U. and Epstein, H.F. (2002) Role of the myosin assembly protein UNC-45 as a molecular chaperone for myosin. Science 295: 669-671.
- Zhang, R. and Epstein, H.F. (2003). Homodimerization through coiled-coil regions enhances activity of the myotonic dystrophy protein kinase. FEBS Lett. 546: 281-287.
- Iyer, D., Belaguli, N., Fluck, M., Rowan, B.G., Wei, L., Weigel, N.L., Booth, F.W., Epstein, H.F., Schwartz, R.J. and Balasubramanyam, A. (2003). Novel phosphorylation target in the serum response factor MADS box regulates alpha-actin transcription. Biochemistry 42: 7477-7486.
- Schulz, P.E., McIntosh, A.D., Kasten, M.R., Wieringa, B. and Epstein, H.F. (2003). A role for myotonic dystrophy protein kinase in synaptic plasticity. J. Neurophysiol. 3: 1177-1186.
- Hoppe, T., Cassata, G., Barral, J.M., Springer, W., Hutagalung, A.H., Epstein, H.F., and Baumeister, R. (2004). Regulation of the myosin-directed chaperone UNC-45 by a novel E3/E4-multiubiquitylation complex in C. elegans. Cell, 118:337-349.
- Miller, R.K., Qadota, H., Landsverk, M.L., Mercer, K.B., Epstein, H.F., and Benian, G.M. (2006). UNC-98 links an integrin-associated complex to thick filaments in Caenorhabditis elegans muscle. J of Cell Biol., 175(6):853-859.
- Landsverk, M.L., Li, S., Hutagalung A.H., Najafov, A., Hoppe, T., Barral, J.M. and Epstein, H.F. (2007). The UNC-45 Chaperone Mediates Sarcomere Assembly through Myosin Degradation in C. elegans. J. Cell Biol. 177:205-210.
Lab Members
Lab Photos
Last edited on: September 21, 2009