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Joseph Albanesi, Ph.D.

Joseph Albanesi, Ph.D.

Professor

Endowed Title
Distinguished Teaching Professor
School
Medical School
Department
Pharmacology
Graduate Programs
Cell and Molecular Biology, Molecular Biophysics
  • Biography

    I received my undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College in 1974 and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Duke University in 1980. As a result of my postdoctoral research at the National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD), I became interested in the mechanism of secretory vesicle biogenesis and trafficking. Since joining the UT Southwestern faculty in 1987, I have pursued several topics related to membrane vesiculation. At present, we are examining the functions and regulations of dynamin, a large (100kDa) GTPase that severs the necks of nascent vesicles, thereby releasing them from their parent membranes. Dynamin activity is required for receptor-mediated endocytosis and synaptic vesicle recycling, and may also be essential for Golgi budding. In previous studies we determined the physical and kinetic properties of dynamin, and established that its function is regulated in cells by binding to specific phosphoinositide lipids. As part of this work, we cloned and characterized a novel family of phosphoinositide kinases that may have key roles in vesicle biogenesis from the Golgi apparatus. We are continuing our efforts to understand how proteins and lipids cooperate to overcome energetic barriers against membrane fusion and fission.

  • Education
    Undergraduate
    Dartmouth College , Biology
    Undergraduate
    Dartmouth College , Chemistry
    Graduate School
    Duke University (1980), Biochemistry
  • Research Interest
    • Guanylyl cyclase B in cell motility and differentiation.
    • Phosphoinositides in Regulated Exocytosis.
    • Role of Dynamin in Membrane Vesiculation.
  • Publications

    Star Featured Publications

    Featured Featured Featured Featured Featured
    Molecular determinants of activation and membrane targeting of phosphoinositol 4-kinase IIbeta
    Jung, G., Wang, J., Wlodarski, P., Barylko, B., Binns, DD., Shu, H., Yin, HL., Albanesi, JP. Biochem J. January 2008 409 501-509
    Phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase III-beta is required for golgi maintenance and cytokinesis in Trypanosoma brucei.
    Rodgers MJ., Albanesi JP., Phillips MA. Eukaryot Cell July 2007 6(7) 1108-18
    Analysis of the catalytic domain of phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase type II.
    Barylko B., Wlodarski P., Binns DD., Gerber SH., Earnest S., Sudhof TC., Grichine N., Albanesi JP. J Biol Chem November 2002 277(46) 44366-75
    Activation of dynamin II by POPC in giant unilamellar vesicles: A two-photon fluorescence microscopy study.
    Bagatolli, L.A., Binns, D.D., Jameson, D.M., and Albanesi, J.P. J. Protein Chem. 2002 21 383-391
    Membrane fusion: Stalk model revisited.
    Markin, V.S. and Albanesi, J.P. Biophys. J. 2002 82 693-712
  • Honors & Awards
    • Southwestern Academy of Teaching
      (2006)
    • American Heart Association
      Established Investigator Award, 1989-1994 (0)
  • Professional Associations/Affiliations
    • American Society of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Biology