Professor and Head
Department of Biology
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Education:
Ph.D., Cell Biology, Dartmouth College, 1986

Career Highlights:
Gilbert joined Rensselaer in 2007, moving from the University of Pittsburgh where she served on the faculty of the Department of Biological Sciences from 1995-2007.  In addition to her National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 research funding, Dr. Gilbert received an NIH Career Development Award through the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), an American Cancer Society Junior Faculty Research Award, and the March of Dimes Basil O’Connor Scholar Research Award.  She is a member of the American Society for Cell Biology, a member of Council and Chair of the Membership Committee for the Biophysical Society, Fellow and member of the Board of Directors for the American Academy of Nanomedicine as well as member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Chemical Society, and the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.  She is on the editorial boards for the Biophysical Journal, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Nanomedicine, and Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology, and Medicine.

Research Areas:
Gilbert’s research is broadly defined in the areas of structure and mechanism of molecular motors including the microtubule-based ATPases kinesin and cytoplasmic dynein, which are involved in cell motility and cytoskeleton dynamics.  The experimental tools include rapid mixing instruments (chemical quench-flow and stopped-flow) plus state-of-the-art fluorescence techniques for millisecond time resolution to understand the structural transitions that are driven by ATP turnover. Molecular biological approaches are used to engineer dimeric, monomeric, and mutant motor proteins.  Dr. Gilbert’s research has revealed that variation in the coupling mechanism of ATP turnover to subtle differences in structure account for the remarkable specificity and diversity in kinesin-powered mechanical events.  The knowledge gained by this research is expected to be important in applications such as drug discovery and development, nanoscale devices, and regenerative medicine.

Selected Publications:

Allingham, JA, LR Sproul, I. Rayment, and SP Gilbert (2007).  Vik1 Modulates Microtubule-Kar3 Interactions Through a Motor Domain That Lacks an Active Site.  Cell 128, 1161-1172.

Sproul, LR, DJ Anderson, AT Mackey, WS Saunders, and SP Gilbert (2005).  Cik1 Targets the Minus- end Kinesin Depolymerase Kar3 to the Microtubule Plus-ends.  Curr. Biol. 15, 1420-1427.

Krzysiak, TC, and SP Gilbert (2006).  Dimeric Eg5 Maintains Processivity Through Alternating-site Catalysis with Rate-limiting ATP Hydrolysis.  J. Biol. Chem.  281, 39444-39454.

Krzysiak, TC, T Wendt, LR Sproul, P Tittman, H Gross, SP Gilbert, and A Hoenger (2006).  A Structural Model for Monastrol Inhibition of Dimeric Kinesin Eg5.  EMBO J.  25, 2263-2273.

Valentine, MT, PM Fordyce, TC Krzysiak, SP Gilbert, and SM Block (2006).  Individual Dimers of the Mitotic Kinesin Motor Eg5 Step Processively and Support Substantial Loads in vitro.  Nature Cell Biol. 8, 470-476.

Valentine, MT, and SP Gilbert (2007).  To Step or Not to Step?  How Biochemistry and Mechanics Influence Processivity in Kinesin and Eg5.  Curr. Opin. Cell Biol.  19, 75-81. 

Cochran, JC, TC Krzysiak, and SP Gilbert (2006).  Pathway of ATP Hydrolysis by Monomeric Eg5.  Biochemistry 45, 12334-12344.

Cochran, JC, and SP Gilbert (2005).  ATPase Mechanism of Eg5 in the Absence of Microtubules: Insight into Microtubule Activation and Allosteric Inhibition by Monastrol.  Biochemistry  44,16633-16648.

Cochran, JC, JE Gatial III, TM Kapoor, and SP Gilbert (2005).  Monastrol Inhibition of the Mitotic Kinesin Eg5.  J Biol Chem 280, 12658-12667.

Cui, W, LR Sproul, SM Gustafson, HJG Matthies, SP Gilbert, and RS Hawley (2005). Drosophila Nod Protein Binds Preferentially to the Plus Ends of Microtubules and Promotes Microtubule Polymerization in vitro.  Mol Biol Cell  16, 5400-5409.

Klumpp, LM, A Hoenger, and SP Gilbert (2004).  Kinesin’s Second Step.  PNAS  101, 3444-3449.

Contact Information:
Susan P. Gilbert
(518) 276-4415
sgilbert@rpi.edu