Scholar Profile

Scott D. Emr

Professor
Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology &
Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics
Cornell University
144 Weill Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853-7202
Voice: 607-255-0861
Email: sde26@cornell.edu
Personal Homepage
1984 Searle Scholar
Former Member of Advisory Board (2003)

Research Interests

The Yeast Secretory Pathway

Our lab studies the selective recognition, sorting and vesicle-mediated transport of proteins through the secretory pathway. The long term objective is to identify components of the cellular machinery that direct each stage of the process. Toward this end, we have isolated a large collection of yeast mutants that exhibit severe and specific defects in protein delivery to the lysosome in yeast. The affected genes are being cloned and several have been found to encode components of the cell's protein sorting apparatus, including; a transmembrane sorting receptor and a membrane-associated complex of two kinases (Vps15 protein kinase and Vps34 phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase) that regulate protein traffic to the lysosome. Our data demonstrate that the Vps15 protein kinase and the Vps34 PtdIns 3-kinase are components of a signal transduction complex that produces a second messenger, PI3P, which activates as yet unknown effector molecule(s) required for an early step in the sorting reaction (e.g., transport vesicle formation). These studies are medically relevant as several serious lysosomal storage diseases (e.g., I-cell disease, pseudo-Hurler polydystrophy) as well as other diseases (e.g., osteoporosis and the progression of certain types of cancer) are known to result from, or are correlated with, mislocalization of lysosomal hydrolases.