John
Enwright's Web Page
John and Tiberius
Who I am and what I do
Job Title:
Associate professor of biology
Austin College
Research Interests:
One of the major ways in which cells respond to their environment is to alter the expression of particular genes. Alterations in gene expression can have profound consequences on cellular function. For example, variations in gene expression occurring during development help regulate the formation of the variety of tissue types seen in the adult animal, while changes in gene expression in the adult central nervous system are thought to regulate learning and memory formation and changes in behavior. My laboratory, in collaboration with Dr. Colleen McClung and Dr. Eric Nestler at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, is studying the regulation of the expression of the neural genes cholecystokinin (CCK), tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and T-box related protein 1 (TBR1).
It has been found that the expression of CCK and TBR1 is regulated by the transcription factors cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) and a splice variant of the fosB gene (DfosB). Interestingly, CREB and DfosB have been implicated in drug-induced neuronal plasticity and addiction to drugs of abuse. Additionally, the TH protein is critical for synthesis of dopamine, a neuromodulator implicated in drug addiction and a variety of psychiatric disorders. Therefore, understanding the regulation of the expression of CCK, TH and TBR-1 may lead to a better understanding of the molecular biology of drug abuse and psychiatric disease.
My lab utilizes a variety of
molecular biological techniques to determine which regions of various proteins
are required for interactions with their partners and for their ability to
regulate gene expression. In
addition I use a range of fluorescent microscopic techniques to examine these
interactions in living cells. This
is accomplished by fusing green fluorescent protein (GFP), a fluorescent
protein originally isolated from jellyfish, to different transcription factors
and looking for interactions in living cells. A variety of different colors of GFP are available and
these, as a whole, can be used as visible tags that allow visualization of the
protein(s) of interest. Using
these approaches I aim to further our general understanding of the regulation
of gene expression, as well as better define the functions of several specific
transcription factors in the regulation of neuronal plasticity associated with
disease states of the brain, including how it responds to drugs of abuse.
Courses I teach:
Anatomy and Physiology, Neurobiology, Communication Inquiry (Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering- Separating Fact from Fiction), Research & Experimental Design, Cell Biology
Some links of interest
Contact
Information
E-mail address :
jenwright@austincollege.edu
Web address :
http://artemis.austincollege.edu/acad/bio/jenwright/enwright.htm
Mailing address:
900 N.
Grand Ave.
Suite 61582
Sherman,
TX 75090-4400
Office phone : 903-813-2338
Fax: 903-813-2420
Biographical
Information
B.S. in
Biology, University of Connecticut, 1990
Research
Associate, Yale University School of Medicine, 1990-1993
Ph.D. in
Biology, University of Virginia, 1993-2000
Postdoctoral
Fellow, University of Virginia, 1999-2001
Assistant
professor of biology, Austin College, 2001-2005
Associate
professor of biology, Austin College, 2005-present
Recent publications and presentations
Richard N. Day, T.C. Voss, J. F. Enwright, C.F.
Booker, A. Periasamy, F. Schaufele.
(2003). Imaging the
Localized Protein Interactions Between Pit-1 and the CCAAT/Enhancer Binding
Protein alpha in the Living Pituitary Cell Nucleus. Mol Endocrinol. 17(3):333-345. Molecular Endocrinology homepage
John F. Enwright III, M.A. Kawecki-Crook, T.C. Voss, F. Schaufele, and R.N.
Day. (2003). A PIT-1 Homeodomain Mutant Blocks the
Intranuclear Recruitment of the CCAAT/Enhancer Binding Protein alpha Required
for Prolactin Gene Transcription. Mol
Endocrinol. 17(2):209-22. Molecular Endocrinology homepage
Weiqun Liu, John F. Enwright III, William Hyun,
Richard N. Day and Fred Schaufele. (2002). CCAAT/Enhancer Binding Protein alpha
uses distinct domains to prolong pituitary cells in the Growth 1 and DNA
Synthesis phases of the cell cycle, BMC Cell Biology. 3(1): 6.
see this paper in
BMC
Fred Schaufele, John F. Enwright, III, Xia
Wang, Cheryl Teoh, Roopali Srihari, Robin Erickson, Ormond A. MacDougald, and
Richard N. Day. (2001). CCAAT/Enhancer Binding Proteina Assembles Essential Cooperating Factors in
Common Subnuclear Domains, Mol Endocrinol. 15: 1665-1676. Molecular Endocrinology homepage
John Enwright, III, Fred Schaufele, and
Richard N. Day. (2001). Protein interactions involving the CCAAT-enhancer
binding protein alpha help direct growth hormone gene expression. Endocrine
Soceity ENDO 2001 Conference. June
2001.
Enwright, J.F., Schaufele, F., and Day,
R.N. (2000). Protein interactions in the living
pituitary cell nucleus involving the CCAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha. Endocrine Soceity ENDO 2000
Conference. June 2000.
Enwright, J.F., and Grainger, R.M. (2000). Altered retinoid signaling in the heads
of Sey
embryos. Developmental Biology 221, 10-22. Developmental Biology homepage
Last
revised: 08/17/06