Dan Eshel

Associate Professor

Room 300NE

Phone: (718) 951-5717

FAX: (718) 951-4826

Email: deshel@brooklyn.cuny.edu

My laboratory is studying the role of microtubule-associated motor proteins in mitotic motile events such as nuclear migration, spindle orientation and chromosome segregation. Our main experimental system is the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, in which we discovered and characterized the gene DYN1 that encodes the heavy chain of the yeast cytoplasmic dynein. Currently, our main effort is to understand the function of various domains in the yeast cytoplasmic dynein heavy chain by generating and studying mutated forms of the chain. The mutations are being assessed in vivo by genetic methods and in vitro with biophysical and biochemical assays. In another project we are performing genetic screening that aims to identify proteins that can either compensate for the loss of activity of some microtubule-associated motor proteins, or when overexpressed, suppress mutations in these motors.

Selected Publications:

Steinberg-Neifach, O., Braunstein, M.J. & Eshel, D. (2001) Rapid assessment of budding pattern by cell morphology in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. BioTech. (in press).

Steinberg-Neifach, O. & Eshel, D. (2000) Simultaneous expression of both MAT loci in haploid cells suppresses mutations in yeast microtubule motor genes. Mol. Gen. genet. 264: 300-305.

Eshel, D. (1995) Functional Dissection of the dynein motordomain. Cell Motil. Cytoskel. 32: 133-135.

Saunders, W.S., Koshland, D., Eshel, D, Gibbons, I.R. &Hoyt, M.A. (1995) S. cerevisiae kinesin- and dynein-related proteinsrequired for anaphase chromosome segregation. J. CellBiol. 128: 617-624.

Shingyoji, C., Yoshimura, K., Eshel, D., Takahashi, K.& Gibbons, I.R. (1995) Effect of beat frequency on the velocity ofmicrotubule sliding in reactivated sea urchin sperm flagellaunder imposed head vibration. J. Exp. Biol. 198: 645-653.

Eshel, D., Urrestarazu, L. A., Vissers, S., Jauniaux, J.-C.,van Vliet-Reedijk, J.C., Planta, R.J. & Gibbons, I.R. (1993).Cytoplasmic dynein is required for normal nuclear segregationin yeast. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90: 11172-11176.

Recent Grants:

Our lab is supported by grants from the American CancerSociety and the PSC-CUNY

Doctoral Program Affiliation:

CUNY Ph.D. program in Biology (subprogram of Molecular,Cellular and Developmental Biology)

CUNY Ph.D. program in Biochemistry.

Laboratory Members:

Olga Steinberg (graduate student)

Eduard Korolyev (graduate student)

Marc Braunstein (undergraduate student)

Deirdre Thompson (technician)

Courses

Bio17 - Cell and Molecular Biology (section EV)

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