News and Publications

Chairman's Overview

Norton B. Gilula, Ph.D.

The Department of Cell Biology has continued to foster research activities in the most contemporary areas of cell biology. This objective has been sustained by recruiting and supporting investigators who are aggressively pursuing answers to fundamental biological issues by integrating the unique resources provided by their TSRI colleagues to combine biology with chemistry and structure.

Research programs in this department focus on diversified contemporary areas of cell biology that include the following: plant biology, Drs. Beachy, Fauquet, Harper, Kay, and Mayfield; molecular genetics, Dr. Maruyama; nuclear transport and cell-cycle activities, Drs. Gerace, Reed, Russell, Sullivan, and Wittenberg; cytoskeletal activities and cell motility, Drs. Fowler, Huang, and Milligan; signal transduction, Dr. Cravatt; cellular neurobiology, Dr. Halpain; design and synthesis of enzymes, Drs. Dawson and Fitzgerald; integrins and cell adhesion, Drs. Gardner, Pelletier, and Quaranta; membrane biology and trafficking, Drs. Balch, Bokoch, Friedlander, Hahn, and Schmid; membrane channels, Drs. Falk, Gilula, Kumar, Mitra, Unwin, and Yeager; and growth factors, Drs. Hanneken and Maher.

The reports on the following pages provide an account of the research highlights that have emerged from the members of the department during the past year. Many of these results have already had a major impact on progress in several important areas of cell biological research, and some have led to novel insights that will shape future developments in basic biomedical research.

The department has had several important transitions this year. Michael Fitzgerald left to take a position at Duke University. However, we have benefited from the successful recruitment of two new colleagues, Phil Dawson and Matthias Falk. Dr. Dawson directs research in synthetic protein chemistry, and Dr. Falk has a diversified research program on gap junctional biosynthesis and in vivo dynamics. Dr. Dawson is also a new member of The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology. This past year was important for the promotion of some of our colleagues, including Ron Milligan, Kevin Sullivan, and Jeff Harper. Most importantly, our distinguished colleague, Roger Beachy, who is head of the Division of Plant Biology, was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

As the research programs of the members of this relatively young department mature, the impact of its laboratory activities within TSRI has also increased. The department has now become a fertile and competitive arena for training both TSRI graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from around the world. During the past year, resources from the Department of Cell Biology were used to continue facilitating the development of expanded instrumentation facilities for use by members of the department and by other scientists at TSRI. In particular, members of the department prioritized their efforts to expand the facilities for structural analysis that use electron microscopy, light microscopic imaging, and mass spectrometry. Initiatives in future years will focus principally on applying these new instrumentation resources to fundamental problems of interest by members of the Department of Cell Biology.