Anthony J. Otsuka

Professor of Genetics

Research interests: Developmental genetics and neurodevelopment of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans; Structure and function of ankyrins and kinesins; Lipid accumulating mutants; Transcriptional regulation of the E. coli biotin operon.

The focus of our research is the mechanism of neural patterning. We have discovered that two "wiring" genes in C. elegans encode ankyrin and kinesin related products by cloning and DNA sequencing. Ankyrin mediates the interaction between spectrin in the cytoskeleton and proteins in the plasma membrane. In yeast two-hybrid experiments, the carboxyl terminal domain of the neural specific AO13 ankyrin interacts with the Protein Phosphatase 2A (PP2A) B' subunits and with CLASP2.  This region also binds to calcium.  CLASP2 is a +TIP protein, that is, it is localized to the growing tip of microtubules.  Because of the increasing prevalence of diabetes, we have started studying the accumulation of lipids in worms by isolating and SNP mapping mutants.

CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR LAB HOMEPAGE: Click here.

Degrees: B.S. in Chemistry, MIT (1972); Ph.D. in Chemistry, University of California, San Diego (1979).

Recent publications:  

1. Nagawa, F., Kishishita, N., Shimizu, K., Hirose, S. Miyoshi, M., Nezu, J., Nishimura, T., Nishizumi, H., Takahashi, Y., Hashimoto, S., Takeuchi, M., Miyajima, A., Takemori, T., Otsuka, A. J., and Sakano, H. (2006).  Antigen-receptor genes of the agnathan lamprey are assembled by a process involving copy choice. Nature Immunol., 8, 206-213. Published online: December 24, 2006, doi:10.1038/ni1419.
2. Boontrakulpoontawee, P. and Otsuka, A. J. 2002. Mutational analysis of the C. elegans unc-44 ankyrin gene demonstrates that the large spliceoform is critical for neural development. Mol. Genet. Genom. 267, 291-302.
3. Otsuka, A. J., Boontrakulpoontawee, P., Rebeiz, N., Domanus, M., Otsuka, D., Velamparampil, N., Chan, S., Vande Wyngaerde, M., Campagna, S., and Cox, A. 2002. The novel UNC-44 AO13 ankyrin is required for axonal guidance in C. elegans, contains six highly repetitive STEP blocks separated by seven potential transmembrane domains, and is localized to neuronal processes and the periphery of neural cell bodies. J. Neurobiol. 50, 333-349.
4. Lyon, C. J., Evans, C. J., Bill, B. R., Otsuka, A. J., Aguilera, R. J. 2000. The C. elegans apoptotic nuclease NUC-1 is related in sequence and activity to mammalian DNAse II. Gene 252, 147-154.
5. Pierce, D. W., Hom-Booher, N., Otsuka, A. J., and Vale, R. D. 1999. Single-molecule behavior of monomeric and heteromeric kinesins. Biochemistry 38, 5412-5421.
6. Nagawa et al. 1998. V(D)J Recombination: Footprinting evidence for RAG1 interaction with the 9-mer. Mol. Cell Biol. 18, 655-663.
7. Tang et al. 1997. Identification, sequence and expression of an invertebrate caveolin gene family from the nematode C. elegans: Implications for the molecular evolution of mammalian caveolin genes. J. Biol. Chem. 272:2437-2445.
8. Otsuka et al. 1995. An ankyrin-related gene (unc-44) is necessary for proper axonal guidance in Caenorhabditis elegans. J. Cell Biol. 129:1081-1092.
9. Peters et al. 1995. Ank3 (epithelial ankyrin), a widely distributed new member of the ankyrin gene family and the major ankyrin in kidney, is expressed in alternatively spliced forms, including forms that lack the repeat domain. J. Cell Biol. 130: 313-330.
10. Wilson et al. 1992. Escherichia coli biotin holoenzyme synthetase/bio repressor crystal structure delineates the biotin- and DNA-binding domains. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., U. S. A. 89:9257-9261.
11. Otsuka et al. 1991. The Caenorhabditis elegans unc-104 gene encodes a putative kinesin heavy chain-related protein. Neuron 6:113-122.
12. Brennan et al. 1989. Crystallization of the bifunctional biotin operon repressor. J. Biol. Chem., 264:5.
13. Otsuka et al. 1988. The Escherichia coli biotin biosynthetic enzyme sequences predicted from the nucleotide sequence of the bio operon. J. Biol. Chem. 263:19577-19585.

Courses taught: Molecular Biology (BSC 350), Molecular Biology of the Gene (BSC 419), Advanced Neurodevelopment (BSC 450.45), Biotechnology Laboratory (BSC 352), Molecular and Developmental Genetics (BSC 321), Developmental Biology (BSC 253), Biology of the Extracellular Matrix (BSC 450.33).

Purification of Recombinant UNC-44 Protein Fragments: Click Here.

UNC-44 Interaction with UNC-33: Click Here.

Other interesting links:

1. Caenorhabditis elegans WWW Server at UTSW
2. Zygote: Info Link
3. Leonard's Web Cams
4. ANTIBODY RESOURCE© Page: The source for antibody information.
5. Otsuka Lab Web Page
6. Writing music is my hobby

Last revised 4/11/08

since August 2002

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