David Pellman, MD

Department	Hematology/Oncology
Hospital Title	Associate in Medicine
Academic Title	Associate Professor
Phone	617-632-4918
Fax	617-632-6845
Email	David Pellman
Location	Dana-Farber Cancer Institute 44 Binney Street Boston MA 02115

Research Overview

Dr. Pellman's laboratory works on cell biology topics in two interrelated areas: cytoskeletal dynamics and the control of genome stability during tumorigenesis. They take a range of approaches including genetics, functional genomics, biochemistry and live cell imaging. There are ongoing projects using both yeast and animal cell systems.

The laboratory's work on cytoskeletal dynamics has primarily focused on asymmetric cell division: how the mitotic spindle senses polarity cues at the cell cortex, and how the actin and microtubule cytoskeletal systems are integrated to correctly position mitotic spindles. Asymmetric cell division is central to the propagation of stem cells in many organs. Dr. Pellman seeks to understand how these protein complexes generate coordinated movement through biochemical and imaging approaches. Current projects in the laboratory include: (1) the cell cycle control of Rho-GTPases (2) the cellular regulation of fomins, novel actin nucleators discovered in the laboratory, (3) biochemical mechanisms mediating microtubule-cortical interactions during asymmetric cell division.

Dr. Pellman and his lab are also studying how cell division defects lead to genome instability and cancer. They recently found that failure of cytokinesis (doubling the number of chromosomes and centrosomes) promotes tumorigenesis (in a mouse breast cancer model). They are now focusing on understanding the relationship between mitotic defects and defects in maintaining the structural integrity of the chromosomes. They are analyzing the results of a recently completed genome-wide RNAi screen to identify genes required to organize multiple centrosomes, a common abnormality seen in cancer.

About David Pellman

Dr. Pellman received his MD from the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine. He completed an internship and residency at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children's Hospital Boston. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He has received numerous awards including: the Graduate Student Mentoring Award from Harvard Medical School (1999), the Stohlman Scholar Award from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (2005); and the E. Mead Johnson Award from the Society for Pediatric Research (2006).

Key Publications

• Fujiwara T, Bandi M, Invanova E, Nitta M, Bronson R.T., and Pellman D. Cytokiness failure, generating tetraploidy, inititates tumorigenesis in in p53-/- mammary epithelial cells. Nature, 2005, 437: 1043-7.
   
• Yoshida S, Kono K, Bartolini S, Lowery D, Yaffe M, Ohya Y, and Pellman D. Polo-Like Kinase Cdc5 Controls the Local Activation of Rho1 to Promote Cytokinesis. Science 2006, 313:108-11 (10.1126/science express.1126747).
   
• Gupta M, Carvalho P, Roof D, and Pellman D. Plus end-specific depolymerase activity of Kip3 the yeast kinesin-8 is required for the positioning of the mitotic spindle. Nature Cell Biology (Article) 2006, In press.
   
• Storchova Z, Burbank K, Cande J, Dunn, J, Brenemen A, and Pellman D. Genome-wide genetic analysis of polyploidy in budding yeast: scaling effects and genome stability. 2006 Nature (Article), In press.