Degrees:

2013 DSc Habil, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, PAS

1999 PhD in Biology, University of Warsaw

1993 MSc in Biology, University of Warsaw

Research trainings:

2000-2001 University of Georgia, Athens, USA

1996 University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany

1994-1995 University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany

Professional employments:

2015-present Head of the Laboratory of Cytoskeleton and Cilia Biology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, PAS

2010-2015 Assistant Professor, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, PAS

2002-2009 Postdoctoral Research Associate, Cellular Biology Department, University of Georgia, Athens, USA

2001-2002 Research and teaching Assistant, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw

Honors and fellowships:

2012 EMBO Installation Grant

2011 Marie Curie International Reintegration Grant

2000 Kosciuszko Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship

1999 Individual Award of the Provost of Warsaw University

1997 Fellowship of Polish Network of Cellular and Molecular Biology UNESCO / PAS

Staff: Rafał Bazan (PhD student), Hanna Fabczak, Hanan Farahat (PhD student), Ewa Joachimiak, Leszek Kuźnicki (Professor emeritus), Michał Niziołek (PhD student), Anna Osinka, Martyna Poprzeczko (PhD student), Ewa Wacławek

Research profile:

Cilia, the microtubule-based structures, are assembled by nearly all types of cells in the human body. Lack of cilia or their defects lead to disorders called ciliopathies. The primary ciliary dyskinesia, the disorder caused by improper function or loss of motile cilia, affects one in 15 000 individuals. Using free living ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila and mammalian cells as models we perform functional analysis of new proteins that are involved in the reg- ulation of cilia and basal bodies assembly and motile cilia beating. One of our main goals is to decipher the molecular mechanism that regulates cilia beating. To do so we search for new ciliary proteins (we called them “missing links”) that play roles in the transduction of the mechanochemical signals from the central pair complex to the dynein arms. Our group is also investigating a role of the microtubule associated proteins including microtubule severing proteins and microtubule posttranslational modifications in the microtubular cytoskeleton reorganization and in motile cilia assembly.

Current research activities:

• identification and functional analysis of new ciliary proteins using ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila and ciliated mammalian cells as models
• analysis of the molecular mechanisms that regulate motile cilia beating
• role of katanin, a microtubule severing protein and tubulin posttranslational modifications in cilia assembly and function
• identification and functional analysis of regulators of cilia assembly
• identification and functional analysis of the posttranslational modifications of non-microtubular tubulins
• identification and role of the new basal body proteins.

Selected publications:

Joachimiak E, Jerka-Dziadosz M, Krzemień-Ojak Ł, Wacławek E, Jedynak K, Urbanska P, Brutkowski W, Sas-Nowosielska H, Fabczak H, Gaertig J, Wloga D.(2018) Multiple phosphorylation sites on γ-tubulin are essential and contribute to the biogenesis of basal bodies in Tetrahymena. J Cell Physiol.  IF 2017= 3,92

Urbanska P, Joachimiak E, Bazan R, Fu G, Poprzeczko M, Fabczak H, Nicastro D, Wloga D. (2018) Ciliary proteins Fap43 and Fap44 interact with each other and are essential for proper cilia and flagella beating. Cell Mol Life Sci. IF 2017 = 6,72

Fu G, Wang Q, Phan N, Urbanska P, Joachimiak E, Lin J, Wloga D, Nicastro D. (2018) The I1 dynein-associated tether and tether head complex is a conserved regulator of ciliary motility. Mol Biol Cell. 29(9):1048-1059. IF 2017 = 3,51

Wloga D, Joachimiak E, Fabczak H. (2017) Tubulin Post-Translational Modifications and Microtubule Dynamics. Int J Mol Sci. 18(10). Review. IF 2017 = 4,06

Wloga D, Joachimiak E, Louka P, Gaertig J.(2017) Posttranslational Modifications of Tubulin and Cilia. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. 2017 Jun 1;9(6) IF 2017 = 9,25