P. Todd Stukenberg

About

P. Todd Stukenberg is a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. His educational background includes a BA in Molecular Biology from Colgate University, a PhD in Biochemistry from Sloan-Kettering Cancer Institute and Cornell Medical School, and a postdoctoral fellowship in Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School. His research focuses on the mechanisms of chromosome segregation in mitosis and the generation of chromosomal instability in tumors. His work investigates how defects in chromosome segregation can lead to aneuploidy, a condition prevalent in human tumors and a major cause of miscarriages and birth defects. The Stukenberg lab studies the pathways that power chromosome movements, ensure proper microtubule attachments, and regulate the transcription at inner centromeres during mitosis. A significant aspect of his research involves the Aurora B kinase, a critical mitotic regulator that localizes to the inner centromere region and is a target for chemotherapeutics. His team has characterized the subunits of the Ndc80 complex, essential for kinetochore-microtubule attachments, and studies how kinetochores move chromosomes and how the spindle checkpoint is coupled to microtubule attachments. Additionally, his research explores how tumors exhibit higher rates of chromosome missegregation, known as chromosomal instability, using bioinformatic approaches and model systems to understand these changes.

Research topics

• Biology
• Genetics
• Medicine
• Internal medicine
• Bioinformatics
• Computational biology
• Pathology
• Cell biology
• Cancer research
• Oncology

Selected publications

• Integrative single-cell meta-analysis reveals disease-relevant vascular cell states and markers in human atherosclerosis

  Cell Reports · 2023 · 99 citations

  Coronary artery disease (CAD) is characterized by atherosclerotic plaque formation in the arterial wall. CAD progression involves complex interactions and phenotypic plasticity among vascular and immune cell lineages. Single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) studies have highlighted lineage-specific transcriptomic signatures, but human cell phenotypes remain controversial. Here, we perform an integrated meta-analysis of 22 scRNA-seq libraries to generate a comprehensive map of human atherosclerosis with…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A Condensed View of the Chromosome Passenger Complex

  Trends in Cell Biology · 2020 · 44 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• High nuclear TPX2 expression correlates with TP53 mutation and poor clinical behavior in a large breast cancer cohort, but is not an independent predictor of chromosomal instability

  BMC Cancer · 2021 · 34 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  BACKGROUND: Targeting Protein for Xenopus Kinesin Like Protein 2 (TPX2) is a microtubule associated protein that functions in mitotic spindle assembly. TPX2 also localizes to the nucleus where it functions in DNA damage repair during S-phase. We and others have previously shown that TPX2 RNA levels are strongly associated with chromosomal instability (CIN) in breast and other cancers, and TPX2 RNA levels have been demonstrated to correlate with aggressive behavior and poor clinical outcome acros…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Aurora kinases: Generators of spatial control during mitosis

  Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology · 2023-03-13 · 23 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior author

  Cell division events require regulatory systems to ensure that events happen in a distinct order. The classic view of temporal control of the cell cycle posits that cells order events by linking them to changes in Cyclin Dependent Kinase (CDK) activities. However, a new paradigm is emerging from studies of anaphase where chromatids separate at the central metaphase plate and then move to opposite poles of the cell. These studies suggest that distinct events are ordered depending upon the locatio…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• MYBL2-Driven Transcriptional Programs Link Replication Stress and Error-prone DNA Repair With Genomic Instability in Lung Adenocarcinoma

  Frontiers in Oncology · 2021-01-08 · 17 citations

  articleOpen access

  It has long been recognized that defects in cell cycle checkpoint and DNA repair pathways give rise to genomic instability, tumor heterogeneity, and metastasis. Despite this knowledge, the transcription factor-mediated gene expression programs that enable survival and proliferation in the face of enormous replication stress and DNA damage have remained elusive. Using robust omics data from two independent studies, we provide evidence that a large cohort of lung adenocarcinomas exhibit significan…

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Expanding the Xenopus ORFeome to genome-scale by de novo cloning of protein-coding gene models

  NIH · $2.3M · 2017–2021

• Mechanisms to move and steer chromosomes

  NIH · $1.7M · 2018–2023

• NIH Grant R01HD069352

  NIH · $3.6M · 2017

Frequent coauthors

• Mike O’Donnell

  Rockefeller University

  46 shared

• Marc W. Kirschner

  Harvard University Press

  35 shared

• Minhui Shen

  Sun Yat-sen University

  20 shared

• Jian Kuang

  19 shared

• Michael B. Yaffe

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  19 shared

• Harrison Echols

  16 shared

• Jian Xu

  16 shared

• Kathleen Mc Entee

  Université Libre de Bruxelles

  16 shared

Education

• PhD, Microbiology

  Joan and Sanford I Weill Medical College of Cornell University

  1993

• BA

  Colgate University

  1986

Similar researchers at University of Virginia

• Edward H. Egelmanh-93
• Kevin R. Lynchh-87
• Ani W. Manichaikulh-81