Research

Current research in Dr. Glomset's group is focused on the structure and function of prenylated proteins and on the structure and biogenesis of animal cell membranes. The research related to prenylated proteins is being done in colgrouporation with Mike Gelb, Chemistry. The chemistry of prenylated proteins is being studied with special reference to low molecular weight GTP-binding proteins. A search for receptors that might mediate the binding of these proteins to specific intracellular membranes is underway. The research related to the structure and biogenesis of cell membranes is designed to identify mechanisms that might promote the formation of specific phospholipid domains. One of these mechanisms appears to involve a newly discovered metabolic pathway that forms arachidonic acid-containing phospholipids including phosphatidylinositol. Enzymes that contribute to this pathway are being studied, and an investigation of their precise intracellular distribution is underway.

Selected Publications

"Spreading of differentiating human monocytes is associated with a major increase in membrane-bound CDC42Hs", Aepfelbacher, M., Vauti, F., Weber, P.C., Glomset, J.A., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 91, 4263 (1994).

"Arachidonoyl-diacylglycerol kinase from bovine testis: purification and properties", Walsh, J.P., Suen, R., Lemaitre, R.N., Glomset, J.A., Journal of Biological Chemistry, 269, 21155 (1994).

"Identification of a phosphatidic acid-preferring phospholipase A1 from bovine brain and testis", Higgs, H.N. and Glomset, J.A., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 91, 9574 (1994).

"Role of protein lipidation reactions in programming interactions between ras-related GTPases and cell membranes", Glomset, J.A., Farnsworth, C.C., Annual Review of Cell Biology, 10, 191 (1994).

"Lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase deficiency and fish eye disease", Glomset, J.A., Assmann, G., Norum, K.R. In The Metabolic Basis of Inherited Disease, Seventh edition, C.R. Scriver, A.L. Beaudet, W.S. Sly, D. Valle, eds. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, December 1994.

"Rab geranylgeranyl transferase catalyzes the geranylgeranylation of adjacent cysteines in the small GTPases rab1A and rab3A", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 91, 11963 (1994).