Key Documents
James Spudich
Academic Appointments
- Professor, Biochemistry
- Professor, Developmental Biology
- Member, Bio-X
- Member, Cancer Center
Contact Information
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Academic Offices
Personal Information Email Tel (650) 723-7634
Professional Snapshot
Administrative Appointments
- Co-Founder and first Director, Interdisciplinary Program, Bio-X, Stanford University (1998 - 2002)
- Co-Founder, Cytokinetics, Inc (1998 - present)
- Chairman, Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University School of Medicine (1994 - 1998)
- Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University School of Medicine (1992 - present)
- Professor, Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine (1989 - present) View All 10administrative appointments of James Spudich
Honors and Awards
- U.S. Genomics Award for Outstanding Investigator in the field of Single Molecule Biology, Biophysical Society (2006)
- Named the "Douglass M. and Nola Leishman Professor of Cardiovascular Disease", Stanford University (1987 - present)
- Elected Member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences (1991)
- American Heart Association Research Prize, National American Heart Association (1991)
- Alexander von Humboldt Research Award, Alexander von Humboldt Research Foundation (1991)
Professional Education
| B.S.: | University of Illinois, Chemistry (1963) |
| Ph.D.: | Stanford University, Biochemistry (1968) |
| Postdoctoral: | Stanford University, Genetics (1969) |
| Postdoctoral: | Cambridge University, MRC LMB, Structural Biology (1971) |
Postdoctoral Advisees
Industry Relationships
Stanford is committed to ethical and transparent interactions with our industry partners. It is our policy to disclose payments of $5,000 or more, equity valued at $5,000 or more in a publicly traded company, or any equity in a privately held company, to physicians and scientists employed by Stanford University from companies or other commercial entities with which they interact as part of their professional activities. View Full Information
| Consulting: | Cytokinetics, Inc. |
| Equity: | Cytokinetics, Inc. |
| Service on Board of Directors: | Cytokinetics, Inc. |
Scientific Focus
Research Interests
The general research interest of this laboratory is the molecular basis of cell motility. We have three specific research interests, the molecular basis of energy transduction that leads to ATP-driven myosin movement on actin, the biochemical basis of the regulation of actin and myosin interaction and their assembly states, and the roles these proteins play in vivo, in cell movement and changes in cell shape.
We work on two experimental systems: contraction of mammalian muscle and chemotaxis of Dictyostelium discoideum cells. Each of these systems has its special advantages. Skeletal muscle has the most highly organized contractile apparatus of any cell type, and the chemistry and biochemistry of muscle actin and myosin are most advanced.
Dictyostelium discoideum, the cell that commands most of our attention, exhibits all of the behavior of nonmuscle mammalian cells and, unlike other eukaryotic cells, can be grown in large amounts for biochemical work. Furthermore, DNA-mediated transformation is being applied to this organism, and we have demonstrated efficient gene targeting by homologous recombination in the myosin gene, which we have cloned and sequenced.
Our approaches include biochemical and structural studies of actin, myosin, and associated regulatory proteins. In addition, we have designed and developed in vitro assays for ATP-dependent movement of purified myosin on filaments reconstituted from purified actin. These assays allow us to analyze mutant myosin molecules for altered function. The site-directed mutagenized forms of myosin are obtained by gene cloning and expression in an appropriate host. Our demonstration that the Dictyostelium discoideum myosin gene can undergo homologous recombination allows us to also probe the effects of the altered myosin forms on the phenotype of the cell.
Publications
- Engineered myosin VI motors reveal minimal structural determinants of directionality and processivity. J Mol Biol. 2009; (4): 862-7
- Dynamic organization of gene loci and transcription compartments in the cell nucleus. Biophys J. 2008; (11): 5003-4
- Long single alpha-helical tail domains bridge the gap between structure and function of myosin VI. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2008; (6): 591-7
- Molecular motors: a surprising twist in myosin VI translocation. Curr Biol. 2008; (2): R68-70
- Dynamics of the unbound head during myosin V processive translocation. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2007; (3): 246-8
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