Janet E. Lindsley, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biochemistry

B.S. in Chemistry, Davidson College, North Carolina

Ph.D. in Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Office:   801-581-2797

Location:  4280B, Emma Eccles Jones Medical Research Building  Map

 

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Selected Publications

• Lindsley JE, Rutter, J. “Whence Cometh The Allosterome?” (2006) PNAS USA 103, 10533-10535.
• Lindsley JE, Rutter J. “Nutrient sensing and metabolic decisions.”Comp Biochem Physiol B Biochem Mol Biol. 2004 Dec;139(4):543-59.
• Stray, J. E. and Lindsley J. E. “Biochemical Analysis of the Yeast Condensin Smc2/4 complex: An ATPase that Promotes Knotting of Circular DNA” (2003) J. Biol. Chem., 278:26238-48.
• Tennyson, R. B., Ebran, N., Herrera, A. E., and Lindsley, J. E. "A Novel Selection System for Chromosome Translocations in Saccharomyces cerevisiae" (2002), Genetics. 160:1363-1373.
• Baird, C.L., Gordon, M.S., Andrenyak, D.M., Marecek, J.F., and Lindsley, J.E. "The ATPase Reaction Cycle of Yeast Topoisomerase II: Slow Rates of ATP Resynthesis and Pi Release." (2001) J. Biol. Chem. 276:27893-27898.
• Morris, S. K. and Lindsley, J. E., “Novel Aspects of Topoisomerase II Inhibition by Etoposide Revealed by Kinetic Analysis,”(1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274, 30690-30696.
• Baird, C. L., Harkins, T. T., Morris, S. K., and Lindsley, J. E., “Topoisomerase II Drives DNA Transport by Hydrolyzing One ATP,” (1999) PNAS USA , 96, 13685-13690.
• Harkins, T. T. & Lindsley, J. E., "Pre-steady State Analysis of ATP Hydrolysis by Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA Topoisomerase II. 1.  A DNA-dependent Burst in ATP Hydrolysis," (1998) Biochemistry, 37, 7292-7298.
• Harkins, T. T., Lewis, T. J. & Lindsley, J. E., "Pre-steady State Analysis of ATP hydrolysis by Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA Topoisomerase II. 2. Kinetic Mechanism for the Sequential Hydrolysis of Two ATP," (1998) Biochemistry, 37, 7299-7312.

 

Educational Activities

Since closing my research laboratory in 2003, I have dedicated my efforts to teaching, curriculum design and educational research. My passion is teaching metabolism from an intuitive perspective, with a strong emphasis on nutrition. I am director of the Medical Biochemistry, Medical Nutrition and the graduate Regulation of Metabolism courses. Since spring of 2007 I have led a group of dietitians, researchers and medical doctors in the development of a practical, mostly on-line Nutrition curriculum for medical students. My current research focuses on the outcomes of educational interventions on student performance and satisfaction. I am presently serving as chair of a national educational organization, the Association of Biomolecular-Course Directors.

Prior Research Program

From 1993 to 2003 my lab studied the mechanism of enzymes that alter chromosome structure. Our initial studies involved mostly steady-state and pre-steady-state kinetic analysis of DNA topoisomerase II (topo II). These studies were aimed at understanding how this enzyme utilizes the energy from ATP to transport one duplex of DNA through a transient break in another. We discovered that this homodimeric enzyme, with two identical ATP binding sites, acts asymmetrically with the two ATP hydrolyzed sequentially at different times during the reaction cycle.

These kinetic studies of topo II led us to two other projects. One of these was a genetic analysis of the involvement of topo II in the development of chromosome translocations. We developed a genetic selection for chromosome translocations using S. cerevisiae as our model organism. This selection system allowed us to analyze the involvement of DNA recombination, replication and repair proteins in chromosome translocations. The second project was a biochemical analysis of the complex of proteins that condense chromosomes. We purified and analyzed the condensin complex from yeast in an attempt to determine how it interacts with DNA and utilizes ATP in a mechanism that results in chromatin condensation.

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