Suzanne Pfeffer

Administrative Appointments

• Emma Pfeiffer Merner Professor of Medical Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine (2012 - present)
• Professor, Stanford University School of Medicine-Biochemistry (1998 - present)
• Chair, Stanford University School of Medicine - Biochemistry (1998 - 2006)
• Associate Chairman, Stanford University School of Medicine-Biochemistry (1997 - 1998)
• Associate Professor, Stanford University School of Medicine - Biochemistry (1992 - 1998)

Honors and Awards

• President, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2010-2012)
• President, American Society for Cell Biology (2003)
• Merit Award, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disorders (1999-2009)
• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (1992)
• Presidential Young Investigator Award, National Science Foundation (1988-1993)

Professional Education

Postdoctoral Advisees

Pak Yan Cheung,  Maika Deffieu,  Basem Goueli,  Alberto Lu Lopez,  Venkata Ganesh Varma Pusapati,  Etiène Sauvageau

Graduate & Fellowship Program Affiliations

• Biochemistry
• Cancer Biology
• Molecular and Genetic Medicine

Internet Links

• Pfeffer Lab Site

Current Research Interests

During intracellular transport, proteins destined for the plasma membrane, secretory vesicles and lysosomes must be sorted from one another within the Golgi complex and sent to their appropriate addresses. The long term goal of our research is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which proteins are targeted to specific and distinct compartments. We would like to understand how transport vesicles select their contents, bud off from an organelle, translocate through the cytoplasm to recognize their target, and then fuse with their target to deliver specific cargo molecules. Current efforts seek to understand how the Golgi complex is formed and how it functions. Although one third of the proteins encoded in the human genome pass through the Golgi, we still do not know how it functions.

A molecular understanding of membrane traffic has broad implications for our understanding of growth control in cancer, receptor trafficking errors in heart disease, regulation of insulin secretion in diabetes and synaptic vesicle biogenesis and transport in neurological disorders. We also study the NPC1 and NPC1L1 proteins which are essential for cholesterol transport in humans.

Publications

• Entry at the trans-face of the Golgi. Pfeffer SR, Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. 2011; 3 (3)
• GCC185 plays independent roles in Golgi structure maintenance and AP-1-mediated vesicle tethering. Brown FC, Schindelhaim CH, Pfeffer SR. J Cell Biol. 2011; 194 (5): 779-87
• Niemann-Pick type C 1 function requires lumenal domain residues that mediate cholesterol-dependent NPC2 binding. Deffieu MS, Pfeffer SR. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011; 108 (47): 18932-6
• RUTBC1 protein, a Rab9A effector that activates GTP hydrolysis by Rab32 and Rab33B proteins. Nottingham RM, Ganley IG, Barr FA, Lambright DG, Pfeffer SR. J Biol Chem. 2011; 286 (38): 33213-22
• An update on transport vesicle tethering. Brown FC, Pfeffer SR. Mol Membr Biol. 2010; 27 (8): 457-61