Stephen Kowalczykowski
{{Short description|American biologist and professor}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Stephen C. Kowalczykowski
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| nationality = American
| fields = "Visual Biochemistry", Molecular Biology, Biophysics
| workplaces = University of California at Davis
| alma_mater = Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Georgetown University, University of Oregon
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| doctoral_advisor = Jacinto Steinhardt, Peter von Hippel
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| known_for = DNA repair, homologous recombination, RecA, BRCA2, RecBCD, helicases, single-molecule biophysics
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| awards = Harvey Society Lecturer (2012)
American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2005)
National Academy of Sciences (2007)
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Stephen Charles Kowalczykowski ("Steve K") is a Distinguished Professor of [http://microbiology.ucdavis.edu/ Microbiology and Molecular Genetics] at the [http://www.ucdavis.edu/ University of California at Davis]. His research focuses on the biochemistry and molecular biology of DNA repair and homologous recombination. His lab combines fluorescence microscopy, optical trapping and microfluidics to manipulate and visualize single molecules of DNA and the enzymes involved in processing and repairing DNA. He calls this scientific approach, "visual biochemistry".{{cite web|title=UC Davis College of Biological Sciences|url=http://biosci3.ucdavis.edu/FacultyAndResearch/FacultyProfile.aspx?FacultyID=283|accessdate=22 February 2013}} Stephen Kowalczykowski was elected to the American Society for Arts and Science in 2005, the [http://www.nasonline.org/ National Academy of Sciences] in 2007 and was a Harvey Society Lecturer at Rockefeller University in 2012.{{cite web |title=Two Professors Elected to Prestigious Academies |url=http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8149 |website=University of California, Davis |access-date=16 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070708012957/http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8149 |archive-date=July 8, 2007 |language=en |date=May 3, 2007 |quote=Stephen C. Kowalczykowski, who studies the molecular machines that copy and repair DNA, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences.}}{{cite web |title=Department of Chemistry |url=http://chemistry.georgetown.edu/news/news_11.06.07.html |website=Georgetown University |access-date=16 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080820092054/http://chemistry.georgetown.edu/news/news_11.06.07.html |archive-date=August 20, 2008 |language=en |date=November 6, 2007}}
Education and career
Stephen Kowalczykowski studied chemistry (B.S.) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1972 and earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry/Biochemistry at Georgetown University in 1976. His dissertation title was "Physical-Chemistry studies of Sickle Cell Hemoglobin." He then worked as a postdoctoral researcher with [http://chemistry.uoregon.edu/fac.html?vonHippel Dr. Peter von Hippel] at the University of Oregon Health Sciences Institute, where he began studying the physical chemistry of protein-nucleic interactions. He began his academic research career at Northwestern University Medical School in 1981 and later moved to the University of California at Davis in 1991. He is one of the world's foremost experts on RecA, the defining member of a ubiquitous class of DNA strand-exchange proteins that are essential for homologous recombination, a pathway that maintains genomic integrity by repairing broken DNA. His lab has made significant contributions to the fields of DNA repair, homologous recombination and the biophysics of DNA helicases.
Scientific contributions
A few of his lab's notable scientific contributions include the structural and molecular mechanism of DNA end resection by RecBCD{{cite journal|vauthors=Singleton MR, Dillingham MS, Gaudier M, Kowalczykowski SC, Wigley DB |title=Crystal structure of RecBCD enzyme reveals a machine for processing DNA breaks.|journal=Nature|date=November 11, 2004|volume=432|issue=7014|pages=187–93|pmid=15538360|doi=10.1038/nature02988|bibcode=2004Natur.432..187S|s2cid=2916995}} (E. coli) and DNA2-Sgs1-RPA and regulatory stimulation by Top3-Rmi1 and Mre11-Rad50-Xrs2{{cite journal|vauthors=Cejka P, Cannavo E, Polaczek P, Masuda-Sasa T, Pokharel S, Campbell JL, Kowalczykowski SC |title=DNA end resection by Dna2-Sgs1-RPA and its stimulation by Top3-Rmi1 and Mre11-Rad50-Xrs2.|journal=Nature|date=September 2, 2010|volume=467|issue=7311|pages=112–6|pmid=20811461|doi=10.1038/nature09355|pmc=3089589|bibcode=2010Natur.467..112C}} (S. cerevisiae), the kinetics of RecA filament nucleation and growth{{cite journal|vauthors=Galletto R, Amitani I, Baskin RJ, Kowalczykowski SC |title=Direct observation of individual RecA filaments assembling on single DNA molecules.|journal=Nature|date=October 2019|volume=443|issue=7113|pages=875–8|pmid=16988658|doi=10.1038/nature05197|bibcode=2006Natur.443..875G|s2cid=4416295}} and regulation by RecFOR{{cite journal|vauthors=Bell JC, Plank JL, Dombrowski CC, Kowalczykowski SC |title=Direct imaging of RecA nucleation and growth on single molecules of SSB-coated ssDNA.|journal=Nature|date=November 8, 2012|volume=491|issue=7423|pages=274–8|pmid=23103864|doi=10.1038/nature11598|pmc=4112059|bibcode=2012Natur.491..274B}} (E. coli), the purification and molecular mechanism of the human breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA2{{cite journal|vauthors=Jensen RB, Carreira A, Kowalczykowski SC |title=Purified human BRCA2 stimulates RAD51-mediated recombination.|journal=Nature|date=October 7, 2010|volume=467|issue=7316|pages=678–83|pmid=20729832|doi=10.1038/nature09399|pmc=2952063|bibcode=2010Natur.467..678J}}{{cite news|title=Nature News|url=http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100822/full/news.2010.422.html|accessdate=22 February 2013}} (humans), the mechanism of the Holliday junction dissolution by the Bloom's Syndrome helicase (BLM) homologue, Sgs1{{cite journal|vauthors=Cejka P, Plank JL, Bachrati CZ, Hickson ID, Kowalczykowski SC |title=Rmi1 stimulates decatenation of double Holliday junctions during dissolution by Sgs1-Top3.|journal=Nat Struct Mol Biol|date=Nov 2010|volume=17|issue=11|pages=1377–82|pmid=20935631|doi=10.1038/nsmb.1919|pmc=2988882}}{{cite journal|vauthors=Cejka P, Plank JL, Dombrowski CC, Kowalczykowski SC |title=Decatenation of DNA by the S. cerevisiae Sgs1-Top3-Rmi1 and RPA complex: a mechanism for disentangling chromosomes.|journal=Molecular Cell|date=September 28, 2012|volume=47|issue=6|pages=886–96|pmid=22885009|doi=10.1016/j.molcel.2012.06.032|pmc=3462259}} (S. cerevisiae), and the mechanism of the 3-dimensional homology search catalyzed by RecA{{cite journal|vauthors=Forget AL, Kowalczykowski SC |title=Single-molecule imaging of DNA pairing by RecA reveals a three-dimensional homology search.|journal=Nature|date=February 8, 2012|volume=482|issue=7385|pages=423–7|pmid=22318518|doi=10.1038/nature10782|pmc=3288143|bibcode=2012Natur.482..423F}} (E. coli).
Publications
- [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=kowalczykowski+sc Research publications on Pubmed].
References
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Category:American microbiologists
Category:American molecular biologists
Category:21st-century American biologists
Category:University of California, Davis faculty
Category:Georgetown University alumni
Category:Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni
Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences