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FACULtY NEWS 14 . mcb NeW fAculty retiremeNtS iN memoriAm iN memoriAm Eric Bolton and Hee Jung Chung were hired as assistant professors of molecular and integrative physiology. Bolton and Chung received their Ph.D.s in 2002 from Johns Hopkins University-SOM, Baltimore, MD, and completed post-docs at the University of California, San Francisco. Professor Bolton’s research is focused on regulation of development and homeostasis by hormonal signals. Professor Chung focuses on activity-dependent regulation of potassium channels in synaptic and intrinsic plasticity. Professor Eric Jakobsson retired in August, 2009, after thirty-eight years in the Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology. He came to Illinois as a research associate and visiting assistant professor, before he joined the tenure track in 1972 and progressed up to professor. Joan Dawson retired in December, 2008. She joined Molecular and Integrative Physiology as an associate professor in 1985, and had additional appointments in the College of Medicine, the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Bioengineering. Richard Gumport (1937-2009) Richard I. Gumport (Ph.D. 1972), professor emeritus of biochemistry, retired associate dean of the College of Medicine, and a native of Pocatello, Idaho, died Oct. 13, 2009, at his home in Chicago. Professor Gumport had a particular interest in learning how enzymes and proteins interact with DNA sequences. As professor emeritus, he continued to publish articles and mentor undergraduates. Edwin Goldberg (1923-2009) Affectionately known as “Dr. Ed,” Professor Edwin Goldberg obtained his M.D. degree in 1949, and subsequently completed internal medicine residencies at North Cambridgeshire Hospital in Cambridge, England, and at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. Dr. Ed and his wife Jeanne endowed three separate professorial chairs: The Edwin E. and Jeanne Bullock Goldberg Endowed Chairs in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Molecular and Integrative Physiogy, and The Benjamin R. and Elinor W. Bullock and Edwin E. and Jeanne Bullock Goldberg Endowed Chair in Integrative Biology. Professor Eric Bolton Professor Hee Chung
Select receNt PuBlicAtioNS Book ANNouNcemeNtS A major new textbook, Tutorial on Neural Systems Modeling, by Professor Tom Anastasio on computational neuroscience has just been published by Sinauer Associates. The book of 542 pages explains how to create computer models of systems of interacting neuron-like elements (or units). The theme that unifies all of the models is that the response properties of the units, which are compared with those of real neurons, emerge as a consequence of the computation being performed. The link between observable properties and useful computations provides insight into the ways in which real neural systems may actually work. Professor of Biochemistry Stephen Sligar and colleagues have successfully recreated integrin activation in vitro, resolving longstanding uncertainties about the cellular mechanisms behind the process. Their findings, “Recreation of the terminal events in physiological integrin activation,” are published and spot-lighted in the January 4th issue of the Journal of Cell Biology. jcb.rupress.org/cgi/content/full/188/1/3 In a new study published in Cell, and rated “exceptional” by the Faculty of 1000 Biology, Professor of Biochemistry Jim Morrissey and colleagues have determined that polyphosphate, an inorganic polymer of phosphate secreted by human platelets, is an important link in thrombotic diseases and inflammation. www.cell.com/fulltext/S0092-8674(09)01374-9 In a new study, Assistant Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Kevin Xiang and colleagues report that betablockers can have a helpful, or harmful, effect on the heart, depending on their molecular activity. The study, which appears in the journal Circulation Research, found that beta-blockers that target both the alpha- and beta-receptors on the heart muscle offer the most benefit to cardiac patients, while those that target only the beta-receptors can actually undermine the structure and function of the heart. circres.ahajournals.org Associate Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Jongsook Kim Kemper is the lead author on a paper published in Cell Metabolism: “FXR Acetylation Is Normally Dynamically Regulated by p300 and SIRT1 but Constitutively Elevated in Metabolic Disease States.” In new papers appearing in October in Science and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics and Computational Biology Raven H. Huang and his colleagues describe the first RNA repair system to be discovered in bacteria. This is only the second RNA repair system discovered to date. Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics and Computational Biology Maria Spies (see page 12) and Professor of Biophysics and Computational Biology Taekjip Ha are contributing authors of an article published in Molecular Cell: “Single- Molecule Analysis Reveals Differential Effect of ssDNA-Binding Proteins on DNA Translocation by XPD Helicase.” The issue includes a preview article that summarizes the findings using an elegant metaphor. Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology David Clayton and colleagues have discovered that the gene expression of a zebra finch is altered when the bird hears a new song by a bird of the same species. The findings were published in PNAS and reported in Science Daily and the Wall Street Journal. Sulfolobus islandicus, a microbe that can live in boiling acid, is offering up its secrets to researchers hardy enough to capture it from the volcanic hot springs where it thrives. In a new study, which has received international attention, a team of researchers led by Assistant Professor of Microbiology Rachel Whitaker report that populations of S. islandicus are more diverse than previously thought, and that their diversity is driven largely by geographic isolation. The study appeared in PNAS. Due for publication by Stipes Publishing Co. is a book entitled A History of Nerve, Muscle and Synapse Physiology that was started by the late Professor C. Ladd Prosser and completed with Professors Brian Curtis and Essie Meisami as coauthors and editors. In 600 pages and 24 chapters, the book traces the history of the development of the physiology and neurobiology of nerve, muscle and synapses from the seventeenth century to the late twentieth century. The focus is on the historical development of facts, techniques and ideas regarding nerve, muscle and synapses. Brief biographies of the major personalities are provided by Professor Meisami. SCHOOL OF MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR BIOLOGY . 15
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