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Kemphues, Kenneth J
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Positions
- Professor, Molecular Biology and Genetics (MBG), College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS)
- Department Chairperson, Molecular Biology and Genetics (MBG), College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS)
US Army 1970-1972; Northern VA Comm College 1974; University of Virginia BA 1976; Indiana University PhD 1981; Postdoc U.of Colorado 1981-4; Married 1984; Faculty Cornell 1984;
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Affiliations
member of graduate field
other Cornell affiliations
Research
research overview
- My research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the establishment of cell polarity with a special emphasis on asymmetric cell divisions during embryonic development. This work has broad biological relevance since polarity is a central aspect of cellular function and organismal development and because defects in cell polarity have been implicated in cancer. The proteins we discovered and continue to study, the PAR proteins, have been found to be key components of systems for establishing polarity in a variety of cell types and a variety of animals, including humans. My overall objective is to contribute as much as possible to a complete molecular understanding of how cell polarity is established and maintained and how asymmetric divisions contribute to embryonic development.
research activities
principal investigator on
- ASYMMETRIC CELL DIVISION IN C. ELEGANS EMBRYOS awarded by NATL INST OF GENERAL MEDICAL SCIENCES, NIH 2011 - 2015
co-principal investigator on
- ULTRAVIEW VOX SPINNING DISK CONFOCAL FOR CORE FACILITY awarded by OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR NIH 2012 - 2013
area(s) of concentration/expertise
other area(s) of concentration/expertise
- Developmental Biology, Developmental Genetics, Cell Polarity
keywords
- Cell polarity
- cell biology
- developmental biology
- embryonic development
- genetics
submitted impact statement
Publications
individual publications
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academic article
- Deubiquitylation Machinery is required for Embryonic Polarity in Caenorhabditits elegans.. PLoS Genetics. 8. 2012
- A genome-wide RNAi screen for enhancers of par mutants reveals new contributors to early embryonic polarity in Caenorhabditis elegans.. Genetics. 192:929-942. 2012
- NonmuscleMyosin IIB Links Cytoskeleton to IRE1a Signaling during ER Stress.. Developmental Cell. 23:1141-1152. 2012
- Z-line formins promote contractile lattice growth and maintenance in striated muscles of C. elegans. Journal of Cell Biology. 198:87-102. 2012
- Binding to PKC-3, but not to PAR-3 or to a conventional PDZ domain ligand, is required for PAR-6 function in C. elegans.. Developmental Biology. 340:88-98. 2010
- Control of Mitotic and Meiotic Centriole Duplication by the Plk4-Related Kinase ZYG-1. Journal of Cell Science. 123:795-805. 2010
- Different domains of C. elegans PAR-3 are required at different times in development. Developmental Biology. 344:745-757. 2010
- The C. elegans homolog of Drosophila Lethal Giant Larvae functions redundantly with PAR-2 to maintain polarity in the early embryo. Developmental Biology. 137:3995-4004. 2010
- Depletion of the co-chaperone CDC-37 reveals two modes of PAR-6 cortical association in C. elegans embryos. Development. 133:3745-3754. 2006
- Interaction of PAR-6 with CDC-42 is required for maintenance but not establishment of PAR asymmetry in C. elegans. Developmental Biology. 299:386-397. 2006
- Nucleoporins NPP-1, NPP-3, NPP-4, NPP-11 and NPP-13 are required for proper spindle orientation in C.elegans. Developmental Biology. 289:360-371. 2006
- PAR-3 is required for epithelial cell polarity in the distal spermatheca of C. elegans. Development. 131:2865-2874. 2004
- PAR-1 is required for morphogenesis of the Caenorhabditis elegans vulva. Developmental Biology. 253:54-65. 2003
- Polarization of the C. elegans zygote proceeds via distinct establishment and maintenance phases. Development. 130:1255-65. 2003
- Gene Clustering Based on RNAi Phenotypes of Ovary-Enriched Genes in C. elegans. Current Biology. 12:1959-1964. 2002
- Integrating Interactome, Phenome, and Transcriptome Mapping Data for the C. elegans Germline. Current Biology. 12:1952-1958. 2002
- The C. elegans par-5 gene encodes a 14-3-3 protein required for cellular asymmetry in the early embryo. Developmental Biology. 241:47-58. 2002
- The C. elegans zyg-1 Gene Encodes a Novel Regulator of Centrosome Duplication with Distinct Maternal and Paternal Roles in the Embryo. Cell. 105:547-558. 2001
- A D. melanogaster homologue of C. elegans par-1 acts at an early step in embryonic axis formation. Nature. 2:458-460. 2000
- Parsing embryonic polarity. Cell. 101:345. 2000
- RNAi analysis of genes expressed in the ovary of Caenorhabditis elegans. Current Biology. 10:1619-1622. 2000
- The C. elegans par-4 gene encodes a putative serine-threonine kinase required for establishing embryonic asymmetry. Development. 127:1467-1475. 2000
- Crossing over during Caenorhabditis elegans meiosis requires a conserved MutS-based pathway that is partially dispensable in budding yeast. Genetics. 153:1271-1283. 1999
- PAR-6 is a conserved PDZ domain-containing protein that co-localizes with PAR-3 in C. elegans embryos. Development. 126:127-135. 1999
- An atypical PKC directly associates and co-localizes with ASIP, a mammalian homologue of C. elegans polarity protein PAR-3, at the epithelial tight junction. Journal of Cell Biology. 143:95-106. 1998
- Atypical protein kinase C cooperates with PAR-3 to establish embryonic polarity in Caenorhabditis elegans. Development. 125:3607-3614. 1998
- The let-99 gene is required for proper spindle orientation during cleavage of the C. elegans embryo. Development. 125:1337-1346. 1998
- ZYG-9, a Caenorhabditis elegans protein required for microtubule organization and function, is a component of meiotic and mitotic spindle poles. Journal of Cell Biology. 141:1159-1168. 1998
- A non-muscle myosin required for embryonic polarity in Caenorhabditis elegans. Nature. 382:455-458. 1996
- Molecular genetics of asymmetric cleavage in the early Caenorhabditis elegans embryo. Current Opinion in Genetics and Development. 6:408-415. 1996
- PAR-2 is asymmetrically distributed and promotes association of P granules and PAR-1 with the cortex in C. elegans embryos. Development. 122:3075-3084. 1996
- Par-6, gene involved in the establishment of asymmetry in early C. elegans embryos, mediates the asymmetric localization of PAR-3. Development. 122:3133-3140. 1996
- Asymmetrically distributed PAR-3 protein contributes to cell polarity and spindle alignment in early C. elegans embryos. Cell. 83:743-752. 1995
- Control of cleavage spindle orientation in C. elegans: the role of the genes par-2 and par-3. Genetics. 139:549-559. 1995
- Par-1, a gene required for establishing polarity in C. elegans embryos, encodes a putative serine/threonine kinase that is asymmetrically distributed. Cell. 81:611-620. 1995
- Pseudocleavage is dispensible for polarity and embryogenesis in C. elegans embryos. Developmental Biology. 168:479-489. 1995
- Par-2, a gene required for blastomere asymmetry in C. elegans, contains zinc-finger and ATP-binding motifs. Proceedings at the National Academy of Science USA. 91:6108-6112. 1994
- Par-4, a gene required for cytoplasmic localization and determination of specific cell types in Caenorhabditis elegans embryogenesis. Genetics. 130:771-790. 1992
- Molecular analysis of zyg-11, a maternal-effect gene required for early embryogenesis of Caenorhabditis elegans. Molecular and General Genetics. 221:72-80. 1990
- Mutations affecting the meiotic and mitotic divisions of the early Caenorhabditis elegans embryo. Genetics. 126:593-605. 1990
- Mutations in the par genes of Caenorhabditis elegans affect cytoplasmic reorganization during the first cell cycle. Developmental Biology. 142:203-215. 1990
- Identification of genes required for cytoplasmic localization in early C. elegans embryos. Cell. 52:311-320. 1988
- Maternal-effect lethal mutations on linkage group II in C. elegans. Genetics. 120:977-986. 1988
- Two loci required for cytoplasmic organization in early embryos of Caenorhabditis elegans. Developmental Biology. 113:449-460. 1986
- Genetic analysis of B2t, the structural gene for a testis specific beta-tubulin subunit in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics. 105:345-356. 1983
- The expression and Function in spermatogenesis of a testis-specific tubulin subunit in Drosophila melanogaster. Journal of Submicroscopic Cytology. 15:341-347. 1983
- Regulation of tubulin gene expression in embryogenesis in Drosophila. Cell. 28:33-40. 1982
- The testis-specific beta-tubulin subunit in Drosophila melanogaster has multiple functions in spermatogenesis. Cell. 31:655-670. 1982
- Mutation in a testis-specific beta-tubulin in Drosophila: Analysis of effects on meiosis and map location of the gene. Cell. 21:445-451. 1980
- Mutation in a structural gene for a beta-tubulin specific to testis in Drosophila melanogaster. Proceedings at the National Academy of Science USA. 76:3991-3995. 1979
- Two-dimensional gel analysis of total proteins from X/O, X/Y, X/Y/Y, X/Ys, X/YL testes from Drosophila melanogaster. Drosophila Information Service. 55:72. 1979
- Neural regulation of product discharge from the hedonic glands of the red spotted newt, Notophthalmus viridescens. J. Exp. Zool.. 201:203-220. 1977
-
book
- Genes affecting early development in Caenorhabditis elegans. Vol. 50. 1985
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booksection
- Essential Genes 2005
- Early patterning of the C. elegans embryo 1998
Teaching
teaching overview
- My teaching of graduate and upper-level undergraduates, both in the lab and in the classroom, emphasizes the value of genetic approaches, both classical and molecular, to understanding the complex processes that regulate organismal development. For teaching of freshmen, my goal is to excite students about the complexity, beauty and wonder of cell and developmental biology.
teaching activities
Service
service to the profession
- Caenorhabditis Genetics Center Board of Advisors 2002 -
- Genetics Society of America Board of Directors 2001 - 2004
reviewer or editor for
Background
education and training
- University of Colorado 1984
- Ph.D. in Genetics, Indiana University 1981
- B.A. in, University of Virginia 1976
- Northern Virginia Community College 1974
awards and honors
Other
college
- CALS
research keyword
- Cell polarity
- cell biology
- developmental biology
- embryonic development
- genetics
name prefix
- Professor