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| Name |
Wickner, William T. |
| Location
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Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth |
| Primary Field
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Biochemistry |
| Secondary Field
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Cellular and Developmental Biology |
 Election Citation
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Wickner has made pioneering observations on protein secretion and membrane assembly. His studies on a small viral protein and an outer membrane protein led to the first isolation and functional reconstitution of crucial elements of the polypeptide translocation apparatus of E. coli, which is a complex conserved in all organisms. |
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Research Interests
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I have studied the mechanisms whereby proteins are translocated across biological membranes. This study has led us to isolate the ""preprotein translocase"" from E. coli. It consists of a multisubunit, integral membrane domain and a subunit that is bound to the membrane surface. This latter subunit serves as both the receptor for presecretory proteins and as an ATP-driven carrier that transports successive loops of the presecretory protein across the membrane. My group is also exploring the inheritance of cytoplasmic organelles through study of the yeast vacuole. Its division and inheritance are cell cycle and spatially regulated and require common proteins of vesicular traffic. |
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