Wesley Sundquist Explained

Wesley I. Sundquist
Birth Date:September 11, 1959 (age 65)
Birth Place:Saint Paul, Minnesota, US
Fields:Structural biology, biochemistry, virology, cell biology
Workplaces:University of Utah (1992)MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Alma Mater:Carleton College (BA; 1981)Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD; 1988)
Known For:Research in HIV assembly and membrane remodeling
Awards:Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize (2024)[1]
Spouse:Nola Sundquist
Children:2

Wesley I. Sundquist is an American biochemist. Sundquist is Samuels Chair, Distinguished Professor, and Chair of the University of Utah Department of Biochemistry.[2] Sundquist's research focuses on cellular, molecular and structural biology of retroviruses, particularly Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), and on cellular membrane remodeling by the Endosomal Sorting Complexes Required for Transport (ESCRT) pathway.

Early life, education, and career

Sundquist was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota on September 11, 1959. He grew up in Saint Paul and Washington, D.C. He received his bachelor's degree in chemistry from Carleton College in Minnesota in 1981. Sundquist completed a PhD in chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with Stephen J. Lippard in 1988. He was then a postdoctoral fellow at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England with Sir Aaron Klug. In 1992, Sundquist joined the University of Utah Department of Biochemistry.

Research

The HIV capsid encloses the viral RNA genome and facilitates viral replication. Sundquist and colleagues defined the unusual fullerene cone architecture of the viral capsid[3] [4] and identified essential functions of the capsid in HIV-1 replication,[5] which helped enable development of the potent and long-lasting Lenacapavir capsid inhibitor by Gilead Sciences. The Sundquist lab also reconstituted capsid-dependent HIV reverse transcription and integration in a cell-free system.[6]

To spread infection, viruses must shed from infected cells. Sundquist and colleagues found that retroviruses like HIV exit cells using the host ESCRT pathway.[7] [8] They also used this information to design new proteins that can assemble into nanocages, exit producer cells, and carry cargoes into new target cells.[9]

Cytokinesis separates one replicating cell into two daughter cells. Sundquist's lab studies this process by determining the structures and functions of factors that function to complete and regulate cytokinesis.[10] [11] [12]

Honors and awards

Personal life

Sundquist met his wife Nola in 1983 when they were graduate students at MIT, and they were married in 1987. As of 2024, their son Christopher is a Corporate and Securities Attorney at the Gunderson Detmer Law Firm in Boston[18] and their daughter Emily is a fourth-year medical student at Harvard Medical School.

References

  1. Web site: 2024-09-17 . Scott Emr and Wesley Sundquist Awarded 2024 Horwitz Prize for Discovering the ESCRT Pathway . 2024-10-29 . Columbia University Irving Medical Center . en.
  2. Web site: 2023-01-19 . Wesley I. Sundquist School of Medicine . 2024-10-28 . medicine.utah.edu . en.
  3. Ganser . Barbie K. . Li . Su . Klishko . Victor Y. . Finch . John T. . Sundquist . Wesley I. . 1999 . Assembly and Analysis of Conical Models for the HIV-1 Core . Science . 283 . 5398 . 80–83 . 10.1126/science.283.5398.80 . 0036-8075.
  4. Li . Su . Hill . Christopher P. . Sundquist . Wesley I. . Finch . John T. . 2000 . Image reconstructions of helical assemblies of the HIV-1 CA protein . Nature . 407 . 6802 . 409–413 . 10.1038/35030177 . 11014200 . 2000Natur.407..409L . 0028-0836.
  5. von Schwedler . Uta K. . Stray . Kirsten M. . Garrus . Jennifer E. . Sundquist . Wesley I. . 2003 . Functional Surfaces of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Capsid Protein . Journal of Virology . 77 . 9 . 5439–5450 . 10.1128/jvi.77.9.5439-5450.2003 . 12692245 . 153941 . 0022-538X.
  6. Christensen . Devin E. . Ganser-Pornillos . Barbie K. . Johnson . Jarrod S. . Pornillos . Owen . Sundquist . Wesley I. . 2020-10-09 . Reconstitution and visualization of HIV-1 capsid-dependent replication and integration in vitro . Science . 370 . 6513 . 10.1126/science.abc8420 . 33033190 . 8022914 . 0036-8075.
  7. Garrus . Jennifer E. . von Schwedler . Uta K. . Pornillos . Owen W. . Morham . Scott G. . Zavitz . Kenton H. . Wang . Hubert E. . Wettstein . Daniel A. . Stray . Kirsten M. . Côté . Mélanie . Rich . Rebecca L. . Myszka . David G. . Sundquist . Wesley I. . 2001-10-05 . Tsg101 and the Vacuolar Protein Sorting Pathway Are Essential for HIV-1 Budding . Cell . 107 . 1 . 55–65 . 10.1016/S0092-8674(01)00506-2 . 11595185 . 0092-8674.
  8. von Schwedler . Uta K. . Stuchell . Melissa . Müller . Barbara . Ward . Diane M. . Chung . Hyo-Young . Morita . Eiji . Wang . Hubert E. . Davis . Thaylon . He . Gong-Ping . Cimbora . Daniel M. . Scott . Anna . Kräusslich . Hans-Georg . Kaplan . Jerry . Morham . Scott G. . Sundquist . Wesley I. . 2003-09-19 . The Protein Network of HIV Budding . Cell . 114 . 6 . 701–713 . 10.1016/S0092-8674(03)00714-1 . 14505570 . 0092-8674.
  9. Votteler . Jörg . Ogohara . Cassandra . Yi . Sue . Hsia . Yang . Nattermann . Una . Belnap . David M. . King . Neil P. . Sundquist . Wesley I. . 2016-11-30 . Designed proteins induce the formation of nanocage-containing extracellular vesicles . Nature . 540 . 7632 . 292–295 . 10.1038/nature20607 . 27919066 . 5729044 . 2016Natur.540..292V . 0028-0836.
  10. Stuchell-Brereton . Melissa D. . Skalicky . Jack J. . Kieffer . Collin . Karren . Mary Anne . Ghaffarian . Sanaz . Sundquist . Wesley I. . 2007-10-11 . ESCRT-III recognition by VPS4 ATPases . Nature . 449 . 7163 . 740–744 . 10.1038/nature06172 . 1476-4687 . 17928862. 2007Natur.449..740S .
  11. Morita . Eiji . Sandrin . Virginie . Chung . Hyo-Young . Morham . Scott G. . Gygi . Steven P. . Rodesch . Christopher K. . Sundquist . Wesley I. . 2007-10-03 . Human ESCRT and ALIX proteins interact with proteins of the midbody and function in cytokinesis . The EMBO Journal . 26 . 19 . 4215–4227 . 10.1038/sj.emboj.7601850 . 0261-4189 . 2230844 . 17853893.
  12. Wenzel . Dawn M. . Mackay . Douglas R. . Skalicky . Jack J. . Paine . Elliott L. . Miller . Matthew S. . Ullman . Katharine S. . Sundquist . Wesley I. . 2022-09-15 . Comprehensive analysis of the human ESCRT-III-MIT domain interactome reveals new cofactors for cytokinetic abscission . eLife . 11 . e77779 . 10.7554/eLife.77779 . free . 2050-084X . 9477494 . 36107470.
  13. Web site: 2011-03-26 . U Biochemist Sundquist Receives National Honor For Research Into How HIV Assembles, Spreads - UNews Archive . 2024-10-28 . archive.unews.utah.edu . en-US.
  14. Web site: Member Directory American Academy of Arts and Sciences . 2024-11-01 . www.amacad.org.
  15. Web site: Wesley I. Sundquist – NAS . 2024-10-29 . www.nasonline.org/ . en.
  16. Web site: Recipients – Rosenblatt Prize . 2024-10-28 . en-US.
  17. Web site: First class . 2024-10-29 . www.asbmb.org . en.
  18. Web site: Gunderson Dettmer . 2024-10-28 . Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP - Chris Sundquist . en.

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