David L. Spector

David L. Spector (born (1952-12-06)December 6, 1952, in New York City) is a cell and molecular biologist best recognized for his research on gene expression and nuclear dynamics.[3] He is currently a professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and head of the Gene Regulation and Cell Proliferation program of the CSHL Cancer Center. Since 2007, he has served as director of research of CSHL.

David L. Spector
Born(1952-12-06)December 6, 1952
New York City, New York
Alma materCity College of New York, Herbert H. Lehman College, Rutgers University
Awards
  • Alumni Achievement Award, Herbert H. Lehman College, New York[1]
  • Elected Member, American Academy of Arts & Sciences
  • Elected Associate Foreign Member, European Molecular Biology Organization[2]
  • Rutgers 250 Fellow
Scientific career
FieldsCell biology, Molecular biology
InstitutionsCold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Education and faculty positions

Spector received a Bachelor of Science degree from City College of New York in 1973, a master's degree from Herbert H. Lehman College in 1977, and a Ph.D.in cell biology from Rutgers University in 1980. After completing his Ph.D. he accepted a position as assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. In 1985 he relocated to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and has been promoted through the ranks to his current position of professor. In 2007 he was appointed director of research.

Professional activities

Spector is a pioneer in unraveling our understanding of the inner workings of the cell nucleus.[4] His early investigations centered on the unusual chromosome structure of dinoflagellates.[5] Recent studies in his laboratory are focused on examining the organization and regulation of gene expression in living mammalian cells. His laboratory has developed approaches to elucidate the spatial and temporal aspects of gene expression and in identifying and characterizing the function of nuclear retained long non-coding RNAs.

His most seminal research accomplishments include the direct visualization in living cells of the recruitment of factors involved in gene expression to active genes;[6] the development of a biochemical fractionation approach to purify a sub-nuclear domain (nuclear speckles) and characterize its protein constituents;[7][8] the development of a live cell imaging system to visualize a stably integrated genetic locus and follow in real-time its mRNA and protein products;[9][10][11] the elucidation of a rapid-response mechanism of regulating gene expression through RNA nuclear retention;[12] identification of a mechanism by which a single genetic locus can produce a long nuclear retained non-coding RNA and a small cytoplasmic tRNA-like transcript,[13] the identification and characterization of a long nuclear retained non-coding RNA that is involved in organizing a sub-nuclear organelle (paraspeckles),[14][15] and determining that knockout or knockdown of the lncRNA Malat1 results in the differentiation of mammary tumors and a significant reduction in metastasis.[16]

In addition, Spector has co-edited numerous microscopy techniques manuals (i.e. Basic Methods in Microscopy,[17] Live Cell Imaging: A Laboratory Manual[18]), and a treatise of The Nucleus,[19] that are used in laboratories throughout the world.

Honors and awards

Notes and references
  1. "CEO of PepsiCo Americas Beverages Addresses More Than 2,600 Graduates at Commencement Exercises". Lehman College website. Lehman College. May 31, 2012. Archived from the original on 18 June 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  2. "European Molecular Biology Organization".
  3. "Model of the Mammalian Cell Nucleus". Spector Lab. Archived from the original on 2012-03-02. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
  4. "Spector, David L. Publications - CSHL Scientific Digital Repository".
  5. Spector DL (1984). Dinoflagellates. Boston: Academic Press. p. 545. ISBN 978-0-12-656520-1.
  6. Misteli T, Cáceres JF, Spector DL (May 1997). "The dynamics of a pre-mRNA splicing factor in living cells". Nature. 387 (6632): 523–7. doi:10.1038/387523a0. PMID 9168118.
  7. Mintz PJ, Patterson SD, Neuwald AF, Spahr CS, Spector DL (August 1999). "Purification and biochemical characterization of interchromatin granule clusters". EMBO J. 18 (15): 4308–20. doi:10.1093/emboj/18.15.4308. PMC 1171507. PMID 10428969.
  8. Saitoh N, Spahr CS, Patterson SD, Bubulya P, Neuwald AF, Spector DL (August 2004). "Proteomic analysis of interchromatin granule clusters". Mol. Biol. Cell. 15 (8): 3876–90. doi:10.1091/mbc.E04-03-0253. PMC 491843. PMID 15169873.
  9. Tsukamoto T, Hashiguchi N, Janicki SM, Tumbar T, Belmont AS, Spector DL (December 2000). "Visualization of gene activity in living cells". Nat. Cell Biol. 2 (12): 871–8. doi:10.1038/35046510. PMID 11146650.
  10. Janicki SM, Tsukamoto T, Salghetti SE, Tansey WP, Sachidanandam R, Prasanth KV, Ried T, Shav-Tal Y, Bertrand E, Singer RH, Spector DL (March 2004). "From silencing to gene expression: real-time analysis in single cells". Cell. 116 (5): 683–98. doi:10.1016/S0092-8674(04)00171-0. PMC 4942132. PMID 15006351.
  11. Zhao R, Nakamura T, Fu Y, Lazar Z, Spector DL (November 2011). "Gene bookmarking accelerates the kinetics of post-mitotic transcriptional re-activation". Nat. Cell Biol. 13 (11): 1295–304. doi:10.1038/ncb2341. PMC 3210065. PMID 21983563.
  12. Prasanth KV, Prasanth SG, Xuan Z, Hearn S, Freier SM, Bennett CF, Zhang MQ, Spector DL (October 2005). "Regulating gene expression through RNA nuclear retention". Cell. 123 (2): 249–63. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2005.08.033. PMID 16239143.
  13. Wilusz JE, Freier SM, Spector DL (November 2008). "3' end processing of a long nuclear-retained noncoding RNA yields a tRNA-like cytoplasmic RNA". Cell. 135 (5): 919–32. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2008.10.012. PMC 2722846. PMID 19041754.
  14. Sunwoo H, Dinger ME, Wilusz JE, Amaral PP, Mattick JS, Spector DL (March 2009). "MEN epsilon/beta nuclear-retained non-coding RNAs are up-regulated upon muscle differentiation and are essential components of paraspeckles". Genome Res. 19 (3): 347–59. doi:10.1101/gr.087775.108. PMC 2661813. PMID 19106332.
  15. Mao YS, Sunwoo H, Zhang B, Spector DL (January 2011). "Direct visualization of the co-transcriptional assembly of a nuclear body by noncoding RNAs". Nat. Cell Biol. 13 (1): 95–101. doi:10.1038/ncb2140. PMC 3007124. PMID 21170033.
  16. Arun, G.; Diermeier, S.; Ackerman, M.; Chang, K.-C.; Wilkinson, J.E.; Hearn, S.; Kim, Y.; MacLeod, A.R.; Krainer, A.R.; Norton, L.; Brogi, E.; Egeblad, M.; Spector, D.L. (2016). "Differentiation of mammary tumors and reduction in metastasis upon Malat1 lncRNA loss". Genes Dev. 30 (1): 34–51. doi:10.1101/gad.270959.115. PMC 4701977. PMID 26701265.
  17. Goldman RD, Spector DL (2006). Basic methods in microscopy: protocols and concepts from cells: a laboratory manual. Plainview, N.Y: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. ISBN 978-0-87969-751-8.
  18. Spector DL, Goldman RD, Swedlow JR (2009). Live Cell Imaging: A Laboratory Manual (2nd ed.). Plainview, N.Y: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. ISBN 978-0-87969-893-5.
  19. Spector DL, Misteli T (2010). The Nucleus (Perspectives in Biology). Plainview, N.Y: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. ISBN 978-0-87969-894-2.


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