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Dr. Mohan ‘Moe’ Gupta received his B.S in biochemistry and Ph.D. in biochemistry (molecular biosciences) from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS.  After training as a postdoctoral fellow at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, he served on the faculty of the Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology at the University of Chicago in Chicago, IL. In August 2015 Dr. Gupta joined the Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology as a tenure-eligible assistant professor.

Research Description

Microtubules are cytoskeletal filaments of polymerized tubulin protein that are required for many cellular processes including cell division, cell migration, and nervous system development. A critical feature of microtubules, which enables such diverse activities, is that the assembly and disassembly of individual microtubules can be differentially controlled in both space and time within the same cell. The importance of regulating microtubule dynamics is highlighted by two significant impacts on human health – mutations in tubulin result in human neurological disorders and inhibiting microtubule dynamics is a proven anti-cancer therapy. Our research group is focused on determining the mechanisms that control microtubule dynamics in healthy cells, and using our expertise in tubulin biochemistry to understand how defects in microtubule dynamics cause neurological disease and can be leveraged for improved cancer treatments. We design complimentary experiments in live cells and with purified components by exploiting interdisciplinary approaches including cell biology, biochemistry, genetics, biophysics, and multi-color live cell and single molecule microscopy.

Publications

Selected list (full list at PubMed).

Proudfoot, K.G., ¹Anderson, S.J., ¹Dave, S., Bunning, A.R., Sinha Roy, P., Bera, A., Gupta, M.L., Jr. (2019). Checkpoint proteins Bub1 and Bub3 delay anaphase onset in response to low tension independent of microtubule-kinetochore detachment. Cell Reports; in press. [¹equal contribution]

Dave, S., Anderson, S.J., Sinha Roy, P., Nsamba, E.T., Bunning, A.R., Fukuda, Y., Gupta, M.L., Jr. (2018). Discrete regions of the kinesin-8 Kip3 tail differentially mediate astral microtubule stability and spindle disassembly. Molecular Biology of the Cell 29(15):1866-77. PMID: 29874146

Feng, R., Sang, Q., Kuang, Y., Sun, X., Yan, Z., Zhang, S., Shi, J., Tian, G., Luchniak, A., Fukuda, Y., Li, B., Yu, M., Chen, J., Xu, Y., Guo, L., Qu, R., Wang, X., Sun, Z., Liu, M., Shi, H., Wang, H., Feng, Y., Shao, R., Chai, R., Li, Q., Xing, Q., Zhang, R., Nogales, E., Jin, L., He, L., Gupta, M.L., Jr., Cowan, N.J., Wang, L. (2016). Mutations in TUBB8 and Human Oocyte Meiotic Arrest. New England Journal of Medicine 374(3):223-32. PMCID: PMC4767273

Fukuda, Y., Luchniak, A., Murphy, E.R., Gupta, M.L., Jr. (2014). Spatial control of microtubule length and lifetime by opposing stabilizing and destabilizing functions of Kinesin-8. Current Biology 24(16):1826-35. PMID: 25088560

Rizk, R.S., DiScipio, K.A., Proudfoot, K.G., Gupta, M.L., Jr. (2014). The kinesin-8 Kip3 scales anaphase spindle length by suppression of midzone microtubule polymerization. Journal of Cell Biology 204(6):965-75. PMID: 24616221

¹Cederquist, G.Y., ¹Luchniak, A, Tischfield, M.A., Peeva, M, Song, Y, Menezes, M.P., Chan, W., Andrews, C., Chew, S., Jamieson, R.V., Gomes, L., Flaherty, M., Grant, P.E., *Gupta, M.L., Jr., *Engle, E.C. (2012). An inherited TUBB2B mutation alters a kinesin binding site and causes polymicrogyria, CFEOM, and axon dysinnervation. Human Molecular Genetics 21(26):5484-99. [¹equal contribution, *co-corresponding authors] PMID: 23001566

¹Entwistle, R.A., ¹Rizk, R.S., Cheng, D.M., Lushington, G.H., Himes, R.H., Gupta, M.L., Jr. (2012). Differentiating between models of Epothilone binding to microtubules using tubulin mutagenesis, cytotoxicity, and molecular modeling. ChemMedChem 7(9):1580-6. [¹equal contribution]  PMID: 22807375

Tischfield, M.A., Baris, H.N., Wu, C., Rudolph, G., Van Maldergem, L., He, W., Chan, W.-M., Andrews, C., Demer, J.L., Robertson, R.L., Mackey, D.A., Ruddle, J.B., Bird, T.D., Gottlob, I., Pieh, C., Traboulsi, E.I., Pomeroy, S.L., Hunter, D.G., Soul, J.S., Newlin, A., Sabol, L.J., Doherty, E.J., de Uzcategui, C.E., De Uzcategui, N., Collins, M.L., Sener, E.C., Wabbels, B., Hellebrand, H., Meitinger, T., de Berandinis, T., Magli, A., Schiavi, C., Pastore-Trossello, M., Koc, F., Wong, A.M., Levin, A.V., Geraghty, M.T., Descartes, M., Flaherty, M.P., Jamieson, R., V., Moller, H.U., Meuthen, I., Callen, D.F., Kerwin, J., Lindsay, S., Meindl, A., *Gupta, M.L., Jr., Pellman, D., and *Engle, E.C. (2010). Human TUBB3 mutations perturb microtubule dynamics, kinesin interactions, and axon guidance. Cell 140(1):74-87. [*co-corresponding authors] PMID: 20074521

Gupta, M.L., Jr., Carvalho, P., Roof, D.M., Pellman, D. (2006). Plus end-specific depolymerase activity of Kip3, a kinesin-8 protein, explains its role in positioning the yeast mitotic spindle. Nature Cell Biology 8:913-23.

Gupta, M.L., Jr., Bode, C.J., Georg, G.I., Himes, R.H. (2003). Understanding tubulin-Taxol interactions: mutations that impart Taxol binding to yeast tubulin. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 100:6394-7.