JACEK GAERTIG
Professor
Ph.D., 1989
Warsaw University, Poland
RESEARCH
The ability of eukaryotic cells to adopt variable shapes, to move in different directions, or to distribute cellular components within the cytoplasm is controlled by a network of filaments: the cytoskeleton. Microtubules provide intracellular tracks for organellar transport performed by motor proteins (kinesins and dyneins). One unaswered question is how motor proteins and other microtubule-binding proteins recognize specific microtubules. We explore a model that distinct types of microtubules are adapted for specific functions by localized post-translational modifications of the building blocks of microtubules, tubulin subunits. Currently, we study the function of tubulin modifications in the assembly and function of cilia, conserved organelles that play key roles in cell motility and signal transduction. Recently, we have also initiated projects aimed at understanding how tubulin modifications contribute to assembly and function of microtubules in 
nerve cells.
We have shown that amino acids used by polymodifications (glutamylation and glycylation) on tubulin are essential for assembly of cilia. We have contributed to the discovery of enzymes that generate polymodifications: tubulin E-ligases and G-ligases. We use the microtubule-rich protist Tetrahymena thermophila, and zebrafish as models. Current research projects include studies on: 1) tubulin modifying enzymes that generate polymodifications (E-ligases and G-ligases) and their function in ciliary motility and assembly; 2) role of tubulin acetylation in neuronal development; 3) identification of novel enzymes that generate tubulin modifications; 4) identification of novel conserved types of tubulin post-translational modifications.
| CONTACT INFORMATION |
| (706) 542-3409, jgaertig@cb.uga.edu |
| SEE ALSO |
| Gaertig Lab Page Biomedical & Health Sciences Institute NSF Press Release --Researchers Identify Proteins that Direct Intracellular Transport and Locomotion |
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| Shilpa Akella | |
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| Drashti Dave | |
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drashti@uga.edu |
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| Swati Suryavanshi | |
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| Krishna Vasudevan | |
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| Dorota Wloga | |
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REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS
Wloga, D., Webster, D., Rogowski, K., Bré, M.-H., Levilliers, N., Jerka-Dziadosz, M., Janke, C., Dougan, S.T. and Gaertig, J. (2009). TTLL3 is a tubulin glycine ligase that regulates the assembly of cilia. Dev. Cell. 16: 867-876.
Gaertig J. and Wloga D. (2008). Ciliary tubulin and its post-translational modifications (2008). Current Topics in Developmental Biology. In: Ciliary function in mammalian development (B. Yoder ed). Vol 85: 83-113.
Verhey,K., and Gaertig J. The Tubulin Code. (2007). Cell Cycle, 6: 2152-2160.
Sharma, N., Bryant J., Wloga D., Donaldson R., Davis R.C., Jerka-Dziadosz, M., and Gaertig J. Katanin regulates dynamics of microtubules and biogenesis of motile cilia. (2007). J. Cell Biology, 178: 1065-1079.
Reed, N.A., Cai, D., Blasius, T.L., Jih, G. T., Meyhofer, E., Gaertig, J., and Verhey K.J. (2006). Microtubule acetylation promotes kinesin-1 binding and transport. Current Biology. 16: 2166-2172.
Wloga, D., Camba, A., Rogowski, K. , G. Manning, Jerka-Dziadosz, M., and Gaertig, J. (2006). Members of the Nima-related kinase family promote disassembly of cilia by multiple mechanisms. Mol. Biol. Cell. 17: 2799-2810.
Janke, C., Rogowski K., Wloga, D., Regnard,C., Kajava, AV., Strub, J-M., Temurak, N., van Dijk,J., Boucher, D., van Dorsselar, A., Suryavanshi, S., Gaertig, J., and Edde B. (2005). Tubulin polyglutamylase enzymes are members of the TTL domain protein family. Science. 308: 1758-1762
Thazhath R., C. Liu, and J. Gaertig. 2002. "Polyglycylation domain of b-tubulin maintains axonemal architecture and controls progression of cytokinesis in Tetrahymena." Nature Cell Biol. 4: 256-259.