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Diane Barber, PhD
Signal Transduction and Cytoskeleton Organization
Selected Publications | Complete Publications

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(415) 476-3764
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Cancer Center
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How do dynamic changes in cell shape and organization of the actin cytoskeleton drive cell movement and proliferation? Answering this question has broad significance to cancer biology, immune responsiveness, and development. We study the regulation and mechanics of cytoskeleton dynamics in the context of cell migration and metastasis. We examine how growth factors, oncogenes, and mechanical force transduce signals to macromolecular assemblies and intracellular ion fluxes that drive cell polarity, movement and adhesion, by using biochemical assays, transcriptional profiling and library screens . We focus on hallmark responses of cancer cells from different tissue origins and genetic backgrounds to understand conserved, common mechanisms. One notable conserved behavior of transformed and highly metastatic cells is an increase in intracellular pH. We are investigating how intracellular pH is regulated (and deregulated in cancers), and how protons act as a post-translational modification to temporally and spatially control cytoskeleton dynamics and cell shape changes.

Selected Publications

Denker, S.P. Huang , D.C. , Orlowski, J., Furthmayr, H., and Barber, D.L.  2000 Direct binding the Na-H exchanger NHE1 to ERM proteins regulates the cortical cytoskeleton and cell shape independently of H + translocation. Molecular Cell 6:1425-1436.

Denker, SP, Barber, DL.  2002 Ion transport proteins anchor and regulate the cytoskeleton.  Current Opinion in Cell Biology 14:214-220.

Denker, SP and Barber, DL.  2002 Cell migration requires both ion translocation and cytoskeletal anchoring by the Na-H exchanger NHE1.  J. Cell Biol. 159:1087-1096.

Patel, H. and Barber, DL. 2005 A developmentally-regulated Dictyostelium Na-H exchanger is necessary for cell polarity and chemotaxis J Cell Biol 169:321-329.

Baumgartner, M., Blackwood, E.M., Sillman, A., Srivastava, J., Madson, N., Schilling, J.W., Wright, J.H., and Barber, D.L. 2006 The Nck-interacting kinase NIK phosphorylates ERM proteins for formation of lamellipodium by growth factors. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 103:13391-13396.



updated September 2006

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