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James Ferrell

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For the American businessman, see James E. Ferrell.
James E. Ferrell
Born (1955-11-03) November 3, 1955 (age 68)
Alma materStanford University, Williams College
TitleProfessor of Chemical and Systems Biology
Scientific career
InstitutionsStanford University School of Medicine
WebsiteJames E. Ferrell Lab at Stanford

James Ellsworth Ferrell (born November 3, 1955) is an American systems biologist. He is a Professor of Chemical and Systems Biology and Biochemistry at Stanford University School of Medicine. He was Chair of the Dept. of Chemical and Systems Biology from its inception in 2006 until 2011.[1]

Education

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Ferrell was an undergraduate at Williams College, majoring in Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics, and graduated in 1976. He received his Ph.D. degree in chemistry from Stanford University in 1984 for work in the laboratory of Wray H. Huestis on the control of red cell shape, and received his M.D. degree from Stanford in 1986. He carried out postdoctoral work on signal transduction in the laboratory of G. Steven Martin at UC Berkeley.[citation needed]

Research

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Through studies of Xenopus laevis oocyte maturation, Ferrell showed how graded changes in the inductive stimulus progesterone are converted into irreversible, all-or-none changes in MAP kinase activity, cyclin-dependent kinase activity, and cell fate.[2][3][4][5][6] These studies helped demonstrate how ultrasensitivity, positive feedback, and bistability can allow cells to switch between discrete states.[7]

Subsequent work from the Ferrell lab[8] and others[9] demonstrated that the cell cycle transition between interphase and mitosis is regulated by a bistable switch, and that the Xenopus early embryonic cell cycle operates like a relaxation oscillator.[10][11][12] These findings helped validate earlier theoretical predictions and modeling studies.[13][14]

Recently the Ferrell lab showed that the mitotic state can propagate through Xenopus cytoplasm via trigger waves, waves of Cdk1 activity that spread faster and farther than the Cdk1 protein molecules can diffuse.[15][16][17] They also showed that apoptosis propagates through cytoplasm by trigger waves; the "speed of death" is about 2 mm per hour.[18][19]

References

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  1. ^ "Department renamed to reflect shift in focus". Stanford University. 2006-10-18. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
  2. ^ Huang, C. Y; Ferrell Jr, J. E (1996). "Ultrasensitivity in the mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 93 (19): 10078–83. Bibcode:1996PNAS...9310078H. doi:10.1073/pnas.93.19.10078. PMC 38339. PMID 8816754.
  3. ^ Ferrell Jr, J. E; Machleder, E. M (1998). "The Biochemical Basis of an All-or-None Cell Fate Switch in Xenopus Oocytes". Science. 280 (5365): 895–8. Bibcode:1998Sci...280..895F. doi:10.1126/science.280.5365.895. PMID 9572732.
  4. ^ Koshland Jr, D. E (1998). "BIOCHEMISTRY: Enhanced: The Era of Pathway Quantification". Science. 280 (5365): 852–3. doi:10.1126/science.280.5365.852. PMID 9599157. S2CID 26301778.
  5. ^ Xiong, Wen; Ferrell, James E (2003). "A positive-feedback-based bistable 'memory module' that governs a cell fate decision". Nature. 426 (6965): 460–5. Bibcode:2003Natur.426..460X. doi:10.1038/nature02089. PMID 14647386. S2CID 4396489.
  6. ^ Sible, Jill C (2003). "Cell biology: Thanks for the memory". Nature. 426 (6965): 392–3. Bibcode:2003Natur.426..392S. doi:10.1038/426392a. PMID 14647363.
  7. ^ Ferrell, James E. (2002-04-01). "Self-perpetuating states in signal transduction: positive feedback, double-negative feedback and bistability". Current Opinion in Cell Biology. 14 (2): 140–148. doi:10.1016/S0955-0674(02)00314-9. ISSN 0955-0674. PMID 11891111.
  8. ^ Pomerening, Joseph R; Sontag, Eduardo D; Ferrell, James E (2003). "Building a cell cycle oscillator: Hysteresis and bistability in the activation of Cdc2". Nature Cell Biology. 5 (4): 346–51. doi:10.1038/ncb954. PMID 12629549. S2CID 11047458.
  9. ^ Sha, W; Moore, J; Chen, K; Lassaletta, A. D; Yi, C.-S; Tyson, J. J; Sible, J. C (2002). "Hysteresis drives cell-cycle transitions in Xenopus laevis egg extracts". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 100 (3): 975–80. doi:10.1073/pnas.0235349100. PMC 298711. PMID 12509509.
  10. ^ Pomerening, Joseph R; Kim, Sun Young; Ferrell, James E (2005). "Systems-Level Dissection of the Cell-Cycle Oscillator: Bypassing Positive Feedback Produces Damped Oscillations". Cell. 122 (4): 565–78. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2005.06.016. PMID 16122424.
  11. ^ Cross, Frederick R; Siggia, Eric D (2005). "Shake It, Don't Break It: Positive Feedback and the Evolution of Oscillator Design". Developmental Cell. 9 (3): 309–10. doi:10.1016/j.devcel.2005.08.006. PMID 16139219.
  12. ^ Adler, E. M; Gough, N. R; Ray, L. B (2005). "2005: Signaling Breakthroughs of the Year". Science Signaling. 2006 (316): eg1. doi:10.1126/stke.3162006eg1. PMID 16391177. S2CID 45634327.
  13. ^ Novak, B; Tyson, J. J (1993). "Numerical analysis of a comprehensive model of M-phase control in Xenopus oocyte extracts and intact embryos". Journal of Cell Science. 106 (4): 1153–68. doi:10.1242/jcs.106.4.1153. PMID 8126097.
  14. ^ Goldbeter, A (1993). "Modeling the mitotic oscillator driving the cell division cycle". Comments on Theoretical Biology. 3: 75–107.
  15. ^ Chang, Jeremy B; Ferrell Jr, James E (2013). "Mitotic trigger waves and the spatial coordination of the Xenopus cell cycle". Nature. 500 (7464): 603–7. Bibcode:2013Natur.500..603C. doi:10.1038/nature12321. PMC 3758429. PMID 23863935.
  16. ^ Ishihara, K; Nguyen, P. A; Wuhr, M; Groen, A. C; Field, C. M; Mitchison, T. J (2014). "Organization of early frog embryos by chemical waves emanating from centrosomes". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 369 (1650): 20130454. doi:10.1098/rstb.2013.0454. PMC 4113098. PMID 25047608.
  17. ^ Berndt, J. D; Gough, N. R (2014). "2013: Signaling Breakthroughs of the Year". Science Signaling. 7 (307): eg1. doi:10.1126/scisignal.2005013. PMID 24399293. S2CID 40864652.
  18. ^ Cheng, Xianrui; Ferrell, James E. (2018-08-10). "Apoptosis propagates through the cytoplasm as trigger waves". Science. 361 (6402): 607–612. Bibcode:2018Sci...361..607C. doi:10.1126/science.aah4065. ISSN 0036-8075. PMC 6263143. PMID 30093599.
  19. ^ "For unwanted cells, death comes in waves | Cosmos". cosmosmagazine.com. 9 August 2018. Retrieved 2018-09-18.
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