Anita Hopper

Anita Carol Klein Hopper
Alma mater	University of Illinois at Chicago University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Scientific career
Institutions	Ohio State University Pennsylvania State University University of Massachusetts Medical School
Thesis	An investigation into the replication of satellite tobacco necrosis virus and tobacco necrosis virus RNA genomes.  (1972)

Anita Hopper is an American molecular geneticist who is a professor at the Ohio State University. She studies the mechanisms of distribution of RNA between the nucleus and cytoplasm. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and the American Association for the Advancement of Science and was elected a Member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2021.

Early life and education

Hopper was an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she studied biology. She moved to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for her graduate studies, where she specialized in cell biology. Hopper studied the replication of satellite tobacco necrosis virus. ^[1] After completing her doctoral research she moved to the University of Washington, where she spent four years as a postdoctoral research associate. ^{[2] [ citation needed ]}

Research and career

Hopper joined the faculty at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and was promoted to associate professor.^{[ citation needed ]} She was appointed professor at the Pennsylvania State University in 1979, where she spent almost thirty years before joining the Ohio State University as chair of the Department of Molecular Genetics. ^[3]

Hopper makes use of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) as a model system to study processing and intracellular trafficking of tRNAs. ^[4] She has shown that tRNA is transported from the nucleus into the cytoplasm, as well as from the cytoplasm into the nucleus. ^[5] Almost all RNAs involved in protein synthesis are generated in the nucleus but function in the cytoplasm (and vice versa). Hopper both processes occur along nuclear export pathways, where export quality is controlled by the translation machinery itself. She showed that tRNAs from the cytoplasm accumulate in the nucleus under particular stress conditions.^{[ citation needed ]}

Hopper's area expertise include: ^[6] intracellular trafficking of RNA and proteins, RNA processing and yeast genetics and genomics.

Awards and honors

• 1994 Elected Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology ^{[ citation needed ]}
• 2003 President of the RNA Society ^[7]
• 2008 Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science ^[8]
• 2009 RNA Society Lifetime Achievement Award in Service ^[9]
• 2012 Ohio State University Distinguished Scholar Award ^[10]
• 2015 RNA Society Lifetime Achievement in Science Award ^[11]
• 2017 Undergraduate Mortar Board/Sphinx Honor Society ^[12]
• 2021 Elected Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences ^{[13] [3]}

Selected publications

• Eric M. Phizicky; Anita K. Hopper (1 September 2010). "tRNA biology charges to the front". Genes & Development . 24 (17): 1832–60. doi:10.1101/GAD.1956510. ISSN   0890-9369. PMC   2932967 . PMID   20810645. Wikidata   Q29616318.
• Anita K Hopper; Eric M Phizicky (15 January 2003). "tRNA transfers to the limelight". Genes & Development . 17 (2): 162–80. doi:10.1101/GAD.1049103. ISSN   0890-9369. PMID   12533506. Wikidata   Q28203809.
• A K Hopper; H M Traglia; R W Dunst (August 1990). "The yeast RNA1 gene product necessary for RNA processing is located in the cytosol and apparently excluded from the nucleus". Journal of Cell Biology . 111 (2): 309–21. doi:10.1083/JCB.111.2.309. ISSN   0021-9525. PMC   2116204 . PMID   2116418. Wikidata   Q24678911.

Personal life

Hopper was married to biochemist James Hopper, with whom she had one daughter. ^[14] James Hopper died at his home in Columbus, Ohio January 21, 2017. ^[15]

References

1. Hopper, Anita Carol Klein (1972). An investigation into the replication of satellite tobacco necrosis virus and tobacco necrosis virus RNA genomes (Thesis). Urbana. OCLC   77219389.
2. "Anita K. Hopper – NAS". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2025-04-07.
3. "Ohio State University: Anita Hopper elected to National Academy of Sciences". India Education | Latest Education News India | Global Educational News | Recent Educational News. 2021-04-28. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
4. "Anita Hopper". molgen.osu.edu. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
5. "Environmental stressors' effect on gene expression explored in lecture". National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Retrieved 2025-02-10.
6. "Anita Hopper". molgen.osu.edu. Retrieved 2021-05-08.
7. https://www.rnasociety.org/assets/Newsletters/Fall2009.pdf#page=4 ^{[ bare URL ]}
8. "American Association for the Advancement of Science". Office of Academic Affairs, The Ohio State University. 2017-07-20. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
9. "Fall 2009 - RNA Society" (PDF).
10. "Anita Hopper wins The 2012 Distinguished Scholar Award". molgen.osu.edu. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
11. Biology, Center for RNA (30 January 2015). "Anita Hopper: RNA Society Lifetime Achievement Award | The Center for RNA Biology" . Retrieved 2021-05-06.
12. "Anita Hopper and Anna Dobritsa Honored as Mentors". molgen.osu.edu. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
13. "2021 NAS Election". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
14. "Dr. James E. Hopper, 1942-2017". Penn State Health News. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
15. "Dr. James E. Hopper, 1942-2017". Penn State Health News. 2017-01-30. Retrieved 2025-02-11.