Pamela Silver | |
---|---|
Born | Pamela Ann Silver |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Synthetic biology Systems biology [1] |
Institutions | |
Thesis | Mechanisms of membrane assembly : studies on the association of an integral protein with biological membranes (1982) |
Doctoral advisor | William T. Wickner |
Doctoral students | Christina Agapakis [2] Valerie Weiss |
Other notable students | Karmella Haynes Jessica Polka Anita Corbett |
Website | www |
Pamela Ann Silver is an American biologist, bioengineer and professor. She holds the Elliot T. and Onie H. Adams Professorship of Biochemistry and Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School in the Department of Systems Biology. [1] [3] Silver is one of the founding Core Faculty Members of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. [4] [5]
She has made contributions to the fields of cell and nuclear biology, [6] [7] [8] systems biology, [9] [10] RNA biology, [11] [12] [13] cancer therapeutics, [14] international policy research, and graduate education. Silver was the first director of the Harvard University Graduate Program in Systems Biology. [15] She serves as a member of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity. [16]
Silver grew up in Atherton, California, where she attended Laurel and Encinal Elementary Schools. During this time, she was a winner of the IBM Math Competition, winning a slide rule, [17] and received special recognition for her early aptitude in science. She attended Menlo Atherton High School and graduated from Castilleja School in Palo Alto. She received her B.A. in chemistry from the University of California, Santa Cruz and her PhD in Biological Chemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1982 in the laboratory of William T. Wickner, working largely on the coat assembly of the M13 coliphage. [18] [19]
Silver did her postdoctoral research with Mark Ptashne at Harvard University where she discovered one of the first nuclear localization sequences. [20] [21] She continued to study the mechanism of nuclear localization in her own lab as an assistant professor at Princeton University. During this time, she characterized the receptor for NLSs and discovered one of the first eukaryotic DnaJ chaperones. [22]
Silver continued in the area of Cell Biology upon moving to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute to hold the Claudia Adams Barr Investigatorship and to become Associate Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber. During this time, she was among the first to follow GFP-tagged proteins in living cells. [23] In addition, she initiated early studies in systems biology to examine interactions within the nucleus on a whole genome scale. [24] Together with Bill Sellers, she discovered molecules that block nuclear export [25] and formed the basis for a publicly traded company Karyopharm Therapeutics. She was promoted in 1997 to Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber.
In 2004, Silver moved to the newly formed Department of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School as a Professor. Around this time, she worked closely with the Synthetic Biology Working Group at MIT and made the decision to move her research group into Synthetic Biology. She observed the motion of the carbon fixing organelles in photosynthetic bacteria. [26] She has worked extensively on designing modified bacteria to act as sensors for exposure to a drug [27] or inflammation [28] in the mammalian gut. She has served as the Director of an ARPA-E (DOE) project on electrofuels.
Her former students include" Christina Agapakis, [2] Valerie Weiss, Karmella Haynes, Jessica Polka and Anita Corbett [29]
Some of Silver's work in this area includes the engineering of: mammalian cells to remember and report past exposures to drugs and radiation, [30] [31] [32] robust computational circuits in embryonic stem cells and bacteria, [33] and synthetic switches to moderate gene silencing with the integration of novel therapeutic proteins. [34] [35] Silver's work sets the stage for the development of novel therapies for use in both humans and animals.
Silver has characterized the carboxysome – the major carbon-fixing structure in cyanobacteria – to enhance photosynthetic efficiency [36] and carbon fixation. [37] She has also engineered cyanobacteria to more efficiently cycle carbon into high-value commodities and has shown that these bacteria can form sustainable consortia. [38] In a collaboration with Jessica Polka, Silver performed super-resolution microscopy of the β-carboxysome. [39]
Silver collaborated with Daniel Nocera at Harvard University to develop a device, called the "Bionic Leaf", that converts solar energy into fuel through a hybrid water-splitting catalyst system that leverages metabolically engineered bacteria. [40]
Silver discovered a correlation between nuclear transport and gene regulation – she identified the first arginine methyltransferase, which plays a role in chromatin function and is important to the movement of RNA binding proteins between the nucleus and cytoplasm of cells. She also discovered previously unknown variations among ribosomes that led her to propose a unique specificity for the matching between ribosomes and the subsequent translation of mRNAs. Silver's finding has several implications for our understanding of how gene regulation impacts disease development, such as cancer. [41]
Silver has been the recipient of an NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award, a Basil O’Connor Research Scholar of the March of Dimes, an Established Investigator of the American Heart Association, the NIH Directors Lecture, and NIH MERIT award, Innovation award at BIO, a Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, the Elliot T. and Onie H. Adams Professorship at Harvard Medical School and named the Top 20 Global Synthetic Biology Influencers. She sits on numerous advisory boards and has presented to members of the US Congress.
Silver was awarded the BBS Mentoring Award for Graduate Education at Harvard Medical School. She is also one of the founders of the International Genetically Engineered Machines competition (iGEM) and currently sits on the Board of iGEM.org. Silver founded and was the first Director of the Harvard University Graduate Program in Systems Biology. Silver was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017 [42] and the National Academy of Sciences in 2023.
A spliceosome is a large ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex found primarily within the nucleus of eukaryotic cells. The spliceosome is assembled from small nuclear RNAs (snRNA) and numerous proteins. Small nuclear RNA (snRNA) molecules bind to specific proteins to form a small nuclear ribonucleoprotein complex, which in turn combines with other snRNPs to form a large ribonucleoprotein complex called a spliceosome. The spliceosome removes introns from a transcribed pre-mRNA, a type of primary transcript. This process is generally referred to as splicing. An analogy is a film editor, who selectively cuts out irrelevant or incorrect material from the initial film and sends the cleaned-up version to the director for the final cut.
Polyadenylation is the addition of a poly(A) tail to an RNA transcript, typically a messenger RNA (mRNA). The poly(A) tail consists of multiple adenosine monophosphates; in other words, it is a stretch of RNA that has only adenine bases. In eukaryotes, polyadenylation is part of the process that produces mature mRNA for translation. In many bacteria, the poly(A) tail promotes degradation of the mRNA. It, therefore, forms part of the larger process of gene expression.
The origin of replication is a particular sequence in a genome at which replication is initiated. Propagation of the genetic material between generations requires timely and accurate duplication of DNA by semiconservative replication prior to cell division to ensure each daughter cell receives the full complement of chromosomes. This can either involve the replication of DNA in living organisms such as prokaryotes and eukaryotes, or that of DNA or RNA in viruses, such as double-stranded RNA viruses. Synthesis of daughter strands starts at discrete sites, termed replication origins, and proceeds in a bidirectional manner until all genomic DNA is replicated. Despite the fundamental nature of these events, organisms have evolved surprisingly divergent strategies that control replication onset. Although the specific replication origin organization structure and recognition varies from species to species, some common characteristics are shared.
Mitochondrial 5-demethoxyubiquinone hydroxylase, also known as coenzyme Q7, hydroxylase, is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the COQ7 gene. The clk-1 (clock-1) gene encodes this protein that is necessary for ubiquinone biosynthesis in the worm Caenorhabditis elegans and other eukaryotes. The mouse version of the gene is called mclk-1 and the human, fruit fly and yeast homolog COQ7.
The mating of yeast, also known as yeast sexual reproduction, is a fundamental biological process that promotes genetic diversity and adaptation in yeast species. Yeast species, such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, are single-celled eukaryotes that can exist as either haploid cells, which contain a single set of chromosomes, or diploid cells, which contain two sets of chromosomes. Haploid yeast cells come in two mating types, a and α, each producing specific pheromones to identify and interact with the opposite type, thus displaying simple sexual differentiation. A yeast cell's mating type is determined by a specific genetic locus known as MAT, which governs its mating behaviour. Haploid yeast can switch mating types through a form of genetic recombination, allowing them to change mating type as often as every cell cycle. When two haploid cells of opposite mating types encounter each other, they undergo a complex signaling process that leads to cell fusion and the formation of a diploid cell. Diploid cells can reproduce asexually, but under nutrient-limiting conditions, they undergo meiosis to produce new haploid spores.
Eukaryotic DNA replication is a conserved mechanism that restricts DNA replication to once per cell cycle. Eukaryotic DNA replication of chromosomal DNA is central for the duplication of a cell and is necessary for the maintenance of the eukaryotic genome.
Histone deacetylase 3 is an enzyme encoded by the HDAC3 gene in both humans and mice.
Paired amphipathic helix protein Sin3a is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SIN3A gene.
Lymphoid enhancer-binding factor 1 (LEF1) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the LEF1 gene. It is a member of T cell factor/lymphoid enhancer factor (TCF/LEF) family.
Histone deacetylase 4, also known as HDAC4, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the HDAC4 gene.
Splicing factor U2AF 65 kDa subunit is a protein that in humans is encoded by the U2AF2 gene.
Histone deacetylase 5 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the HDAC5 gene.
Cell division cycle protein 27 homolog is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CDC27 gene.
Protection of telomeres protein 1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the POT1 gene.
Protein argonaute-1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the EIF2C1 gene.
Protein Jumonji is a protein that in humans is encoded by the JARID2 gene. JARID2 is a member of the alpha-ketoglutarate-dependent hydroxylase superfamily.
Protein IWS1 homolog also known as interacts with Spt6 (IWS1) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the IWS1 gene.
Telomere-associated protein RIF1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the RIF1 gene.
Polypyrimidine tract-binding protein 1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the PTBP1 gene.
G1/S-specific cyclin Cln3 is a protein that is encoded by the CLN3 gene. The Cln3 protein is a budding yeast G1 cyclin that controls the timing of Start, the point of commitment to a mitotic cell cycle. It is an upstream regulator of the other G1 cyclins, and it is thought to be the key regulator linking cell growth to cell cycle progression. It is a 65 kD, unstable protein; like other cyclins, it functions by binding and activating cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK).