[Complete printable CV (pdf) ]

Dr. Clarissa M. Cheney
Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Cris Cheney

Contact Information:

R. C. Seaver Biology Building, Room 121
175 W Sixth Street
Pomona College
Claremont, CA 91711
909-621-8605
clarissa.cheney@pomona.edu
http://pages.pomona.edu/~cmc04747/

Education:

Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania, Biology
M. Phil. Yale University, Biology
B.A. Goucher College, Biological Sciences

Professional Experience:

Chair of Biology, Pomona College
Associate Professor of Biology, Pomona College
Assistant Professor of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine
Assistant Professor of Biology, The Johns Hopkins University
Lecturer, Goucher College
Associate Research Scientist, The Johns Hopkins University
Postdoctoral Fellow, The Johns Hopkins University

Courses:

Biology 40: Introductory Genetics
Biology 169: Developmental Biology

Research Interests:

Our research focuses on the study of vesicle transport and Rab GDI interactors in Drosophila melanogaster. Our approaches encompass classical fly genetics, cell biology and developmental biology.

Rab GTPases play a multitude of roles in vesicular transport, including regulation of vesicle formation, vesicle motility, vesicle tethering, membrane fusion, and membrane remodeling. Rab GDP Dissociation Inhibitor (GDI) is a protein that binds to Rabs, keeping Rab in the GDP-bound state, as well as delivering and placing Rabs in the correct membrane compartment. The mechanism for releasing Rab from GDI and delivering Rab to the correct membrane is unknown and is likely to involve proteins that bind and interact with GDI.

This research program has previously cloned the Drosophila GDI gene, determined the Drosophila GDI crystal structure, isolated and characterized Drosophila GDI mutations, and located the GDI mutations within the GDI crystal structure (Ricard et al., 2001). Prior work has discovered 14 genomic regions that interact genetically with a GDI null allele, creating a female sterile phenotype. Current projects in the lab include identifying the interacting gene(s) in these regions, determining the nature of the female sterility in the interaction, using a GST pull-down system to identify proteins that interact with GDI and also using a yeast two-hybrid system to isolate GDI interacting proteins.

Publications:

Ricard, C.S., J.M. Jakubowski, J.W. Verbsky, M.A. Barbieri, W.M. Lewis*, G.E. Fernandez, M. Vogel, C. Tsou*, V. Prasad*, P. Stahl, G. Waksman and C.M. Cheney. 2001. Drosophila rab GDI mutants show developmental defects but normal rab membrane extraction. Genesis 31: 17-29. [abstract]

Garrett, M., J.E. Zahner, C.M. Cheney, and P. Novick. 1994. GDI1 encodes a GDP dissociation inhibitor that plays an essential role in the yeast secretory pathway. EMBO J. 13: 1718-1728. [abstract]

Cheney, C.M., N.G. Kravit, and J.W. Verbsky. 1993. A new myosin I gene in Drosophila. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 3: 1280-1288. [abstract | article]

Garrett, M.D., A.K. Kabcenell, J.E. Zahner, T. Sasaki, Y. Takai, C.M. Cheney and P.J. Novick. 1993. Interaction of Sec4 with GDI proteins from bovine brain, Drosophila melanogaster and Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Conservation of GDI membrane dissociation activity. FEBS Letters 331: 233-238. [abstract]

Zahner, J.E., and C.M. Cheney. 1993. A Drosophila homolog of bovine smg p25a GDP dissociation inhibitor (GDI) undergoes a shift in isoelectric point in the developmental mutant, quartet. Molec. Cell. Biol. 13: 217-227. [abstract | article]

Zahner, J.E., and C.M. Cheney. 1990. quartet: a Drosophila developmental mutation affecting chromosome separation in mitosis. Devel. Gen. 11: 27-40. [abstract]

Cheney, C.M., and T.J. Lang. l988. Developmental and protein modification defects caused by mutations in the Drosophila gene, l(3)c21R. Devel. Biol. 130: 551-557. [abstract]

Cheney, C M., and T.J. Lang. l986. Defects in protein modification precede developmental defects in l(3)c21RRW630, a temperature-sensitive Drosophila developmental mutant. Devel. Biol. 114: 43-41. [abstract]

Simcox, A.A., C.M. Cheney, E. Hoffman, and A. Shearn. l985. A deletion of the 3' end of the Drosophila hsp70 gene increases the stability of the mutant mRNA during recovery from heat shock. Molec. Cell. Biol. 5: 3397-3402. [abstract | article]

Cheney, C.M., K.G. Miller, T.J. Lang*, and A. Shearn. l984. Specific protein modifications are altered in a temperature-sensitive Drosophila mutant. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 81: 6422-6426. [abstract | article (pdf)]

Cheney, C.M., and J.W. Lash. l984. An increase in cell-cell adhesion in the segmental plate results in a meristic pattern. J. Emb. Exp. Morph. 79: 1-10. [abstract]

Lash, J.W., A.W. Seitz, C.M. Cheney, and D. Ostrovsky. 1984. On the role of fibronectin during the compaction stage of somitogenesis in the chick embryo. J. Exp. Zool. 232: 197-206. [abstract]

Ostrovsky, D., C.M. Cheney, A.W. Seitz, and J.W. Lash. l983. Fibronectin distribution during somitogenesis in the chick embryo. Cell Differentiation 13: 217-223. [abstract]

Cheney, C.M., and A. Shearn. l983. Developmental regulation of imaginal disc proteins: Synthesis of a heat shock protein under non-heat shock conditions. Devel. Biol. 95: 325-330. [abstract]

Cheney, C.M., and J.W. Lash. l981. Diversification within embryonic chick somites: Differential response to notochord. Devel. Biol. 82: 288-298.

*Undergraduate co-author