Jennifer A. Pietenpol, Ph.D.

Professor of Biochemistry

Associate Director for Basic Research/Translational Programs, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

Ph.D., Vanderbilt University, 1990 (Cell Biology)

After exposure to various forms of environmental stress, mammalian cells activate cell cycle checkpoint signaling that induces either cell cycle arrest and repair or apoptosis. Failure to induce the appropriate checkpoint response can result in gene mutations and chromosome damage, both of which can contribute to tumorigenesis. Studies in this laboratory over the past several years have expanded the understanding of cell cycle checkpoint signaling pathways and the role that the p53 family of proteins plays in these pathways. Ongoing and future studies, in cell-based and animal model systems, are aimed at: 1) determining the mechanisms that dictate the hierarchy of p53-mediated gene transcription after various forms of cell stress; 2) discovering and characterizing novel p53 and p63 signaling pathways; and 3) deciphering the signaling processes that are integral to activation and maintenance of S phase and G2/M phase checkpoint pathways.

Recent Publications

Brown KA, Pietenpol JA, Moses HL. A tale of two proteins: differential roles and regulation of Smad2 and Smad3 in TGF-beta signaling. J Cell Biochem. 2007 101:9-33. Review.

Perez CA, Pietenpol JA. Transcriptional programs regulated by p63 in normal epithelium and tumors. Cell Cycle. 2007 6:246-54.

Barbieri CE, Tang LJ, Brown KA, Pietenpol JA. Loss of p63 leads to increased cell migration and up-regulation of genes involved in invasion and metastasis. Cancer Res. 2006 66:7589-97.

Hinow P, Rogers CE, Barbieri CE, Pietenpol JA, Kenworthy AK, DiBenedetto E. The DNA binding activity of p53 displays reaction-diffusion kinetics. Biophys J. 2006 91:330-42.

Chakravarthy AB, Kelley MC, McLaren B, Truica CI, Billheimer D, Mayer IA, Grau AM, Johnson DH, Simpson JF, Beauchamp RD, Jones C, Pietenpol JA. Neoadjuvant concurrent paclitaxel and radiation in stage II/III breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2006 12:1570-6.

Barbieri CE, Pietenpol JA. p63 and epithelial biology. Exp Cell Res. 2006 312:695-706.