National Institutes of Health, U. S. A.

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Polo Kinase in Mitotic Controls and Tumorigenesis

Dr. Kyung Lee

A postdoctoral fellowship is available to study the function of mammalian polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) and its interacting proteins in normal and cancer cell proliferation. Plk1 plays a pivotal role in proper mitotic progression and its deregulation is tightly associated with oncogenesis. We have been studying various centrosomal and kinetochore proteins that are critical for both subcellular localization and mitotic/non-mitotic functions of Plk1. Projects include, but are not limited to, the mechanisms of various Plk1-mediated cellular events and the physiological significance of Plk1 and its associated proteins during cell cycle progression, tumorigenesis, and stem cell proliferation.

Applicants should be a Ph.D. or M.D. with less than 3 years of postdoctoral experience. Expertise in cell biology, biochemistry, and stem biology is preferred. Visit https://ccrod.cancer.gov/confluence/display/CCRKLEE/Home for additional information. Salary starts at $49,400 plus health insurance with no previous postdoctoral training. To apply, send CV to Dr. Kyung Lee (kyunglee@mail.nih.gov). This position is subject to a background investigation.

Selected Publications:

Kang, Y.-H., et al. 2006. Self-regulated Plk1 recruitment to kinetochores by the Plk1-PBIP1 interaction is critical for proper chromosome segregation. Mol. Cell 24:409-422.

Soung NK, et al. 2009. Plk1-dependent and -independent roles of an ODF2 splice variant, hCenexin1, at the centrosome of somatic cells. Dev. Cell 16: 539-550.

Park JE, et al. 2009. Direct quantification of polo-like kinase 1 activity in cells and tissues using a highly sensitive and specific ELISA assay. PNAS USA. 106:1725-1730.

Yun SM, et al. 2009. Structural and functional analyses of minimal phosphopeptides targeting the polo-box domain of polo-like kinase 1. Nat. Str. & Mol. Biol. 16:876-882.

Park, J. -E., et al. 2011. Feed-forward mechanism of converting biochemical cooperativity to mitotic processes at the kinetochore plate. PNAS USA. 108:8200-5.

Johmura Y, et al. 2011. A bifurcated spindle assembly pathway regulated by mammalian polo-like kinase 1 PNAS USA. Jun 20. [Epub ahead of print]

Liu F, et al. 2011. Structural basis of noncanonical phosphopeptide interactions with the polo-box domain of polo-like kinase 1 that provide unprecedented binding affinities. Nat. Chem. Biol. (In press).

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