Professor
Through a collaboration including MRI, Stanford University, and the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bangalore, India, John Mercer is currently Visiting Professor at the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (inStem) at NCBS. Pictured here with Tejas Gupte, Postdoctoral Fellow, on the NCBS campus.
Laboratory Members
Colleen Silan, Research Associate
Tejas M. Gupte, Postdoctoral Fellow, inStem/NCBS, Bangalore
Amruta Jambekar, Postdoctoral Fellow
Farah Haque, Graduate Student
Binnu Gangadharan, Graduate Student
Namita Mukundan, Graduate Student
Education
University of Iowa, BS, 1979, Zoology
University of California, San Diego, PhD, 1986, Biology
Positions
1986-1991 Leukemia Society of America Postdoctoral Fellow. Mammalian Genetics Laboratory, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD
1991-1995 Assistant Professor. Department of Physiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX
1995-2006 Scientist (Associate Professor). McLaughlin Research Institute, Great Falls, MT
2006-present Professor. McLaughlin Research Institute, Great Falls, MT
October 2009-August 2011 Visiting Scholar. Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
August 2011-present Visiting Professor. inStem/National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Major Areas of Research
Molecular mechanisms of inherited cardiomyopathies.
Unconventional myosins in organelle and RNA transport.
Current Publications
Sotelo, J.R., Canclini, L., Kun, A., Sotelo-Silveira, J.R., Xu, L., Wallrabe, L., Calliari, A., Rosso, G., Cal, K., and Mercer, J.A. (2013). Myosin-Va-dependent cell-to-cell transfer of RNA from Schwann cells to axons. PLoS ONE 8(4): e61905. (link)
Wöllert, T., A. Patel, Y.-L. Lee, D.W. Provance, V. Vought, M.S. Cosgrove, Mercer, J.A., and G.M. Langford. 2011. Myosin-Va tail associates directly with Rab3A-containing compartments in neurons.
J. Biol. Chem, 286: 14352-14361. (link)
Wang, Z., Edwards, J.G., Riley, N., Provance, D.W., Karcher, R.L., Li, X., Davison, I.G., Ikebe, M., Mercer, J.A., Kauer, J.A., and Ehlers, M.D. (2008). Myosin-Vb mobilizes recycling endosomes and AMPA receptors for postsynaptic plasticity. Cell 135: 535-548. (link)
Provance, D.W., E.J. Addison, P.R. Wood, D.Z. Chen, R.L. Karcher, C.M. Silan, and Mercer, J.A. (2008). Myosin-Vb functions as a peripheral, dynamic tether for endocytic compartments during transferrin trafficking. BMC Cell Biology 8: 44. (link)
Salerno, V.P., Calliari, A., Provance, D.W., Sotelo-Silveira, J.R., Sotelo, J.R., and Mercer, J.A. (2008). Myosin-Va mediates RNA localization in primary fibroblasts from multiple organs. Cell Motil. Cytoskel., 65: 422-433. (Download PDF)
Stauffer, E.A., Scarborough, J.D., Hirono, M., Miller, E.D., Shah, K., Mercer, J.A., Holt, J.R., and Gillespie, P.G. (2005). Fast adaptation in vestibular hair cells requires myosin-1c Activity. Neuron 47: 541-553. (Download PDF)
D.W. Provance, C.R. Gourley, C.M. Silan, L.C. Cameron, K.M. Shokat, J.R. Goldenring, K.Shah, P.G. Gillespie, and Mercer, J.A. (2004). Chemical-genetic inhibition of a sensitized mutant myosin-Vb demonstrates a role in peripheral-pericentriolar membrane traffic. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 101, 1868-1873. (Download PDF)
Holt, J.R., Gillespie, S.K.H., Provance, D.W., Shah, K., Shokat, K.M., Corey, D.P., Mercer, J.A. and Gillespie, P.G. (2002). A chemical-genetic strategy implicates myosin-1c in adaptation by hair cells. Cell 108, 371-381. (Download PDF)
Provance, D.W., James, T.L. and Mercer, J.A. (2002). Melanophilin, the product of the leaden locus, is required for targeting of myosin-Va to melanosomes. Traffic 3,124-132. (link)
