Provost
Professor of Biology
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Research Scientist, Division of Molecular Medicine at The Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health

Education:
Ph.D., Biological Sciences, Wayne State University, 1984
B.S., Biology, Wayne State University, 1979

Career Highlights:
Palazzo joined Rensselaer in 2002 and currently serves as the Provost, as Professor of Biology, and as a research scientist for the Wadsworth Center with the New York State Department of Health. His previous experience includes a year as a visiting professor at Harvard University Medical School and ten years in a variety of roles with the University of Kansas. Among the roles he held in Kansas were Chair of the Department of Physiology and Cell Biology and Professor for the Department of Molecular Biosciences. Prior to his work in Kansas, Palazzo spent three years as an assistant scientist/principal investigator for the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. He also spent a year as a research associate and completed a three-year post doctorate in the University of Virginia’s biology department.

An active contributor to his field, Palazzo has served as a panelist, committee member, or board member for a variety of organizations throughout his career, including the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB), the Marine Biological Laboratory, the National Cancer Institute, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Palazzo has served as an editorial board member of Biology of the Cell for five years and spent seven years on the editorial board of Cell Motility and the Cytoskeleton.

Palazzo’s honors include a Junior Faculty Research Award from the American Cancer Society and a National Research Service Award from the NIH. He also is a member of many professional societies, such as American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the American Society for Cell Biology.

Research Areas:
Palazzo’s research interests include centrosomes and cellular organization, mitosis and early development, cell-cycle regulation, fertilization and reproduction, regulation of cell motility, cell structure and function, cell evolution, protein biochemistry and drug discovery.

Centrosome research impacts the understanding of numerous human conditions including cancer and metastasis, fertility, wound healing, and inflammation to name a few. Despite more than 100 years of research, the centrosome remains one of the most enigmatic cell organelles, largely due to the small amounts of centrosomal material present in cells. Research in Palazzo’s laboratory focuses on the study of the biochemistry, structure, and molecular biology of the centrosome. He and his team have developed methods for the relatively large-scale isolation of functional centrosomes from one specific phase of the meiotic cell cycle, and developed a series of rapid in vitro assays to study centrosome assembly and function.

In addition to conducting centrosome research, Palazzo has been instrumental in the development of a series of other assays based on the use of cytoplasmic extracts for the study of cell cycle-dependent events. Through collaboratioins with the Wadsworth Center in Albany, New York, he was the first to demonstrate centrosome assembly and centriole duplication in vitro, outside the confines of the living cell. Collaborations with colleagues at The Technion in Haifa, Israel, led to the first demonstration of a requirement for the protein ubiquitin in the targeted destruction of the cell cycle regulatory protein, cyclin. Joint research with colleagues at Northwestern University resulted in the development of novel assays for the study of nuclear envelope disassembly. More recently, teaming up with colleagues in Germany and Austria he has coupled the centrosome studies with work in progress on nuclear envelope breakdown to carry out spindle assembly in vitro. Palazzo is now in the process of applying this battery of assays for the identification of small organic molecules that interfere with cell replication in a search for novel therapeutics.

Selected Publications:
A. Hershko, D. Ganoth, J. Pehrson, R.E. Palazzo, and L. Cohen, “Methylated Ubiquitin Inhibits Cyclin Degradation in Clam Embryo Extracts,” Journal of Biological Chemistry, 266, (25), 16376-16379, (1991).

R.E. Palazzo, E. Vaisberg, R.W. Cole, and C.L. Rieder, “Centriole Duplication in
Cell-Free Lysates of Spisula Solidissima,” Science, 256, 219-221, (1992).

J.M. Vogel, T. Stearns, C.L. Rieder, and R.E. Palazzo, “Centrosomes
Isolated from Spisula Solidissima Oocytes Contain Rings and an Unusual Stoichiometric Ratio of á/â Tubulin,” Journal of Cell Biology, 137, (1) 193-202, (1997).

B. Schnackenberg, A. Kodjakhov, C.L. Rieder, and R.E. Palazzo, “The Disassembly and Reassembly of Functional Centrosomes, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 95, 9295-9300, (1998).

R.E. Palazzo and J.M. Vogel, “Isolation of Centrosomes from Spisula
Solidissima Oocytes in: Mitosis and Meiosis,” in Methods in Cell Biology, C.L. Rieder ed., 61, 36-56, Academic Press, (1999).

X.Y. Wu and R.E. Palazzo, “Differential Regulation of Paternal vs. Maternal Centrosomes,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 96, 1397-1402, (1999).

R.E. Palazzo, E.A. Vaisberg, D.G. Weiss, S.A. Kuznetsov, and W. Steffen, “Dynein is Required for Spindle Assembly in Cytoplasmic Lysates of Spisula Solidissima Oocytes,”
Journal of Cell Science, 112, (9), 1291-1302, (1999).

B.J. Schnackenberg and R.E. Palazzo, “Identification and Function of the Centrosome Centromatrix, Biology of the Cell, 91, (6), 429-438, (1999).

B.J. Schnackenberg, D.R. Hull, R.D. Balczon, and R.E. Palazzo, “Reconstitution of
Microtubule Nucleation Potential in Centrosomes Isolated from Spisula Solidissima Oocytes, Journal of Cell Science, 113, (6), 943-953, (2000).

Q. Li, D. Hansen, H.C. Joshi, R.E. Palazzo, and R.D. Balczon, “Kendrin/Pericentrin-B, a Centrosome Protein with Homology to Pericentrin that Complexes with PCM-1,” Journal of Cell Science, 114, (4), 797-809, (2001).

T. Ohta, R. Essner, J.-H. Ryu, R.E. Palazzo, Y. Uetaki, and R. Kuriyama, “Characterization of Cep135, a Novel Coiled-Coil Centrosomal Protein Involved in
Microtubule Organization in Mammalian Cells,” Journal of Cell Biology, 156, (1), 87-100, (2002).

Contact Information:
Robert E. Palazzo
(518) 276-8031
palazr@rpi.edu
http://j2ee.rpi.edu/biology/update.do?artcenterkey=19