Professor of Biology, Department Chair
vancuraa@stjohns.edu
Tel (718) 990-6287
Fax (718) 990-5958
Research - Laboratory of Signal Transduction
Balanced growth of cells requires their accurate transcriptional responses to nutritional and other environmental conditions. Many of these responses are mediated by phospholipase C (PLC) that regulates a myriad of cellular processes and is linked to many human diseases, including cancer. The long-term goal of our Laboratory is to elucidate the role of PLC in the regulation of chromatin structure and transcription. Currently, we are exploring the role of PLC in histone acetylation and the relationship of primary metabolic pathways and post-translational modification of histones. Our work utilizes techniques of molecular and cell biology, biochemistry and genetics.
The work in this Laboratory has been significantly enhanced by the diligent and creative work of our students, who after graduating assumed positions at premier institutions (Rockefeller University, Harvard Medical School, Brown University, New York University, National Institutes of Health).
This work has been continuously funded since 1995 by the American Cancer Society and the National Institutes of Health.
Recent Publications
Galdieri L, Desai P, Vancura A. Facilitated assembly of the preinitiation complex by separated tail and head/middle modules of the mediator. J. Mol. Biol. 415: 464-474, 2012
Chang J, Vancura A. Analysis of SUC2 promoter structure by nucleosome scanning. Methods in Molecular Biology 809: 321-333, 2012
Galdieri L, Moon J, Vancura A. Determination of histone acetylation status by chromatin immunoprecipitation. Methods in Molecular Biology 809: 255-265, 2012
Ramaswami S, Manna S, Juvekar A, Kennedy S, Vancura A, Vancurova I. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis of NFκB transcriptional regulation by nuclear IκBα in human macrophages. Methods in Molecular Biology 809: 121-134, 2012
Galdieri L, Mehrotra S, Yu S, Vancura A. Transcriptional regulation in yeast during diauxic shift and stationary phase. OMICS. 14: 629-638, 2010
Desai P, Guha N, Galdieri L, Hadi S, Vancura, A. Plc1p is required for proper chromatin structure and activity of the kinetochore by facilitating recruitment of the RSC complex. Mol. Genet. Genomics 281: 511-523, 2009
Guzinska K, Varghese R, Vancura A. Role of Plc1p in regulation of Mcm1p-dependent genes. FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 295: 245-250, 2009
Demczuk A, Guha N, Nguyen PH, Desai P, Chang J, Guzinska K, Rollins J, Ghosh CC, Goodwin L, Vancura A. Saccharomyces cerevisiae Phospholipase C regulates transcription of Msn2p-dependent stress-responsive genes. Eukaryot. Cell 7: 967-979, 2008
Chang J, Ruiz V, Vancura A. Purification of yeast memebranes and organelles by sucrose density gradient centrifugation. Methods in Molecular Biology 457: 141-149, 2008
Guha N, Desai P, Vancura A. Plc1p is required for SAGA recruitment and derepression of Sko1p-regulated genes. Mol. Biol. Cell 18: 2419-2428, 2007
Romero C, Dasai P, DeLillo N, Vancura, A. Expression of FLR1 transporter requires phospholipase C and is repressed by mediator. J. Biol. Chem. 281: 5677-5685, 2006
Nguyen PH, Hasek J, Kohlwein SD, Romero C, Choi JH, Vancura A. Interaction of Pik1p and Sjl proteins in membrane trafficking. FEMS Yeast Res. 5: 363-371, 2005
Demczuk A, Guha N, Desai P, Romero C, Vancura A. Inositol polyphosphates in the yeast nucleus. Devel. Biophys. Biochem. 4: 209-223, 2004
DeLillo N, Romero C, Lin H, Vancura A. Genetic evidence for a role of phospholipase C at the budding yeast kinetochore. Mol. Genet. Genomics 269: 261-270, 2003
Lin H, Nguyen P, Vancura A. Phospholipase C interacts with Sgd1p and is required for expression of GPD1 gene and osmoresistance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol. Genet. Genomics 267: 313-320, 2002
Lin H, Choi JH, Hasek J, DeLillo N, Lou W, Vancura A. Phospholipase C is involved in kinetochore function in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol. Cell. Biol. 20: 3597-3607, 2000