Professor
Education
University of Iowa, BS, 1979, Zoology
University of California, San Diego, PhD, 1986, Biology
Positions
| 1986-1991 | 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 | Associate Professor, McLaughlin Research Institute, Great Falls, MT |
| 2006-Present | Professor, McLaughlin Research Institute, Great Falls, MT |
| 2009-2011 | Visiting Scholar. Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA |
| 2011-2017 | Visiting Professor, inStem/National Center for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, Karnatka, India |
Research Interests
Molecular mechanisms of inherited cardiomyopathies
Unconventional myosins in organelle and RNA transport.
Selected Publications
Gupte TM, Haque F, Gangadharan B, Sunitha MS, Rani DS, Mukundan N, Jambekar A, Thangaraj K, Sowdhamini R, Sommese RF, Nag S, Spudich JA, and Mercer, J. Mechanistic heterogeneity in contractile properties of TPM1 mutants associated with inherited cardiomyopathies. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2015, 290:7003-7015.
Calliari A, Farías J, Puppo A, Canclini L, Mercer JA, Munroe D, Sotelo JR, and Sotelo-Silveira JR. Myosin Va associates with mRNA in ribonucleoprotein particles present in myelinated peripheral axons and in the central nervous system. Developmental Neurobiology. 2014, 74:382-96
Sotelo, J.R., Canclini, L., Kun, A., Sotelo-Silveira, J.R., Calliari, A., Rosso, G., Cal, K., Bresque, M., DiPaolo, A., Farias, J., and Mercer, J.A. Glia-to-axon RNA transfer. Developmental Neurobiology, in press; Epub ahead of print. 2013, Aug 31. doi: 10.1002/dneu.22125.
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. Myosin-Va-dependent cell-to-cell transfer of RNA from Schwann cells to axons. PLoS ONE. 2013, 8(4): e61905. (link)
Margaret Sunitha S., Mercer, J.A., Spudich, J.A., and Sowdhamini R. Integrative structural modelling of the cardiac thin filament: energetics at the interface and conservation patterns reveal a spotlight on period 2 of tropomyosin. Bioinformation Biology Insights. 2012, 6:203-23.
Wöllert, T., A. Patel, Y.-L. Lee, D.W. Provance, V. Vought, M.S. Cosgrove, Mercer, J.A., and G.M. Langford. Myosin-Va tail associates directly with Rab3A-containing compartments in neurons. J. Biol. Chem. 2011, 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. Myosin-Vb mobilizes recycling endosomes and AMPA receptors for postsynaptic plasticity. Cell. 2008, 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. Myosin-Vb functions as a peripheral, dynamic tether for endocytic compartments during transferrin trafficking. BMC Cell Biology. 2008, 8: 44. (link)
Salerno, V.P., Calliari, A., Provance, D.W., Sotelo-Silveira, J.R., Sotelo, J.R., and Mercer, J.A. Myosin-Va mediates RNA localization in primary fibroblasts from multiple organs. Cell Motil. Cytoskel. 2008, 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. Fast adaptation in vestibular hair cells requires myosin-1c Activity. Neuron. 2005, 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. Chemical-genetic inhibition of a sensitized mutant myosin-Vb demonstrates a role in peripheral-pericentriolar membrane traffic. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 2004, 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. A chemical-genetic strategy implicates myosin-1c in adaptation by hair cells. Cell 2002, 108, 371-381. (Download PDF)
Provance, D.W., James, T.L. and Mercer, J.A. Melanophilin, the product of the leaden locus, is required for targeting of myosin-Va to melanosomes. Traffic. 2002, 3,124-132. (link)
