Faculty

Bruce Cunningham 
Professor
Department of Neurobiology
TSRI - 1992

Education 
Ph.D., Yale University, 1966

Awards & Activities 
Adjunct Fellow of the Neurosciences Institute; Former member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Biological Chemistry and the Journal of Cell Biology; Honorary Fellow of the American Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Research Focus 
Structure and Function of Cell Surface Proteins in the Nervous System
Studies in the laboratory focus on the structure and function of cell surface glycoproteins that play critical role in neural development. Current emphasis is on cell adhesion molecules (CAMs). A variety of molecular biological and protein chemical techniques are used to determine the detailed mechanisms by which these molecules bind homophilically (a CAM on one cell binds to the same CAM on another) and heterophilically to other molecules on the cell surface. Binding assays utilize transfected cells and beads coated with recombinant proteins. Functional studies focus on the mechanisms inside and outside the cell that generate intracellular signals using cells transfected with recombinant proteins that promote or inhibit specific signaling events.

Selected References 
Little, E.B., Edelman, G.M., and Cunningham, B.A. (1998). Palmitoylation of the cytoplasmic domain of the neural cell adhesion molecule N-CAM serves as an anchor to cellular membranes. Cell Adh. Commun. 6:415-430.

Atkins, R., Osborne, M. Lashuel, H., Edelman, G.M., Write, P, Cunningham, B.A., Dyson, J. (1999). Association between the first two immunoglobulin-like domains of the neural cell adhesion molecule N-CAM. FEBS Lett. 451:162-168.

Little, E.B., Crossin, K.L., Krushel, L.A., Edelman, G.M., Cunningham, B.A. (2001). A short segment within the cytoplasmic domain of the neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM) is essential for N-CAM-induced NF-kB activity in astrocytes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 98: 2238-2243.

Atkins, A.R., Chung, J., Deechongkit, S., Little, E.B., Edelman, G.M., Wright, P.E., Cunningham, B.A., Dyson, H.J. (2001). Solution structure of the third immunoglobulin domain of the neural cell adhesion molecule N-CAM: can solution studies define the mechanism of homophilic binding? J. Mol. Biol. 311:161-172.