James Ferrell

James E. Ferrell
Born (1955-11-03) November 3, 1955
Institutions Stanford University School of Medicine
Alma mater Stanford University, Williams College
Website
James 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

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.

Research

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.

Subsequent work from the Ferrell lab[7] and others[8] 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[9] [10] .[11] These findings helped validate earlier theoretical predictions and modeling studies[12] .[13]

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[14] [15] .[16]

References

  1. ↑ "Department renamed to reflect shift in focus". Stanford University. 2006-10-18. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
  2. ↑ Huang CY, Ferrell JE Jr. Ultrasensitivity in the mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1996 Sep 17;93(19):10078-83. PubMed PMID 8816754; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC38339
  3. ↑ Ferrell JE Jr, Machleder EM. The biochemical basis of an all-or-none cell fate switch in Xenopus oocytes. Science. 1998 May 8;280(5365):895-8. PubMed PMID 9572732.
  4. ↑ Koshland DE Jr. The era of pathway quantification. Science. 1998 May 8;280(5365):852-3. PubMed PMID 9599157.
  5. ↑ Xiong W, Ferrell JE Jr. A positive-feedback-based bistable 'memory module' that governs a cell fate decision. Nature. 2003 Nov 27;426(6965):460-5. Erratum in: Nature. 2007 Aug 30;448(7157):1076. PubMed PMID 14647386.
  6. ↑ Sible JC. Cell biology: thanks for the memory. Nature. 2003 Nov 27;426(6965):392-3. PubMed PMID 14647363.
  7. ↑ Pomerening JR, Sontag ED, Ferrell JE Jr. Building a cell cycle oscillator: hysteresis and bistability in the activation of Cdc2. Nat Cell Biol. 2003 Apr;5(4):346-51. PubMed PMID 12629549.
  8. ↑ Sha W, Moore J, Chen K, Lassaletta AD, Yi Cs, Tyson JJ, Sible JC. Hysteresis drives cell-cycle transitions in Xenopus laevis egg extracts. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Feb 4;100(3):975-80.
  9. ↑ Pomerening JR, Kim SY, Ferrell JE Jr. Systems-level dissection of the cell-cycle oscillator: bypassing positive feedback produces damped oscillations. Cell. 2005 Aug 26;122(4):565-78. PubMed PMID 16122424.
  10. ↑ Cross FR, Siggia ED. Shake it, don't break it: positive feedback and the evolution of oscillator design. Dev Cell. 2005 Sep;9(3):309-10. Review. PubMed PMID 16139219.
  11. ↑ Adler EM, Gough NR, Ray LB. 2005: signaling breakthroughs of the year. Sci STKE. 2006 Jan 3;2006(316):eg1. PubMed PMID 16391177.
  12. ↑ Novak B, Tyson JJ. Numerical analysis of a comprehensive model of M-phase control in Xenopus oocyte extracts and intact embryos. J Cell Sci. 1993. 106:1153-1168.
  13. ↑ Goldbeter A. Modeling the mitotic oscillator driving the cell division cycle. 1993. Comments Theor Biol 3:75-107.
  14. ↑ Chang JB, Ferrell JE Jr. Mitotic trigger waves and the spatial coordination of the Xenopus cell cycle. Nature. 2013 Aug 29;500(7464):603-7. doi:10.1038/nature12321. Epub 2013 Jul 17. PubMed PMID 23863935; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3758429.
  15. ↑ Ishihara K, Nguyen PA, Wühr M, Groen AC, Field CM, Mitchison TJ. Organization of early frog embryos by chemical waves emanating from centrosomes. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2014 Sep 5;369(1650). pii: 20130454.
  16. ↑ Berndt JD, Gough NR. 2013: Signaling breakthroughs of the year. Sci Signal. 2014 Jan 7;7(307):eg1. doi: 10.1126/scisignal.2005013. PubMed PMID 24399293.
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