UMDNJ - ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON MEDICAL SCHOOL
DEPARTMENT OF PATHOLOGY AND LABORATORY MEDICINE

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  Faculty Information

Peter D. Yurchenco, M.D., Ph.D.

Position: Professor and Vice-Chairman, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Administrative: Chief, Division of Experimental Pathology

Department: Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Lab Url: http://orion.umdnj.edu/

Phone Number: 732-235-5166

Fax Number: 732-235-4825

Email Address: yurchenc@umdnj.edu
Clinical and Research Interests


Basement membranes are evolutionarily ancient cell-associated extracellular matrices that are essential for embryonic development and for normal tissue functions. Mutations affecting the laminin, collagen, and proteoglycan components cause diseases of muscle, kidney, nerve, brain and skin. Virus and mycobacteria subvert basement membrane-cell receptor interactions to infect tissues. Alterations of basement membrane architecture and function occur in diabetes mellitus affecting vascular filtration. The goals of the laboratory are to understand how basement membranes assemble at the molecular level and how they affect differentiation and neuromuscular functions.

 
 

Training
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Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT., B.A., Biology (magna cum laude),1970

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Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, Ph.D., 1975, Biological Sciences

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Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, M.D., 1976, Medicine

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Dartmouth Medical School Affiliated Hospitals, Hanover, NH, 1976-7, Medical internship

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Yale Univ. School of Medicine, New Haven, CT., 1977-81, Pathology Residency

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Yale Univ. School of Medicine, New Haven, CT., 1982-84, Post-Doctoral Fellowship
 

Honors and Awards

1985-1988 Sinsheimer Scholar; 1986-1989: John A. Hartford Foundation Fellow.
1995 Chairman, 15th Annual East Coast Connective Tissue Society Meeting.
1996-1998 Vice-Chairman & Chairman, Basement Membrane Gordon Conference
1996-2000 Member, Pathobiochemistry Study Section (N.I.H.).
 
Certifications Licensure

National Board of Medical Examiners, 1976

Anatomic Pathology - American Board of Pathology, 1982

   New Jersey license #: ?

 
     
Office Address   Mailing Address
Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
675 Hoes Lane
UMDNJ - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
 		 same
 
Selected Publications

  1. Yurchenco, P.D. and H. Furthmayr (1984). Self-assembly of basement membrane collagen. Biochemistry 23: 1839-1850.

  2. Yurchenco, P.D., E.C. Tsilibary, A.S. Charonis & H. Furthmayr (1985). Laminin polymerization: Evidence for a two step assembly with domain specificity. J. Biol. Chem. 260: 7636-7644.

  3. Yurchenco, P.D. & G.C. Ruben (1987). Basement membrane structure in situ: Evidence for lateral associa-tions in the type IV collagen net-work. J. Cell Biol.105: 2559-2568

  4. Yurchenco, P.D., Y.S. Cheng & G.C. Ruben (1987). Self-assembly of a high molecular weight basement membrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan into dimers and oligomers. J. Biol. Chem. 262: 17668-17676.

  5. Yurchenco, P.D. & G.C. Ruben (1988) Type IV collagen lateral associations in the EHS tumor matrix: comparison with amniotic and reconstituted networks. Am. J. Path. 132: 278-291.

  6. Schittny J.C. & P.D. Yurchenco (1990). The peripheral short-arm domains of basement membrane laminin are essential for self-assembly. J. Cell Biol. 110: 825-832.

  7. Yurchenco, P.D., Y.-S. Cheng & J.C. Schittny (1990). Heparin modulation of laminin polymers. J. Biol. Chem. 265: 3981-3991.

  8. Yurchenco, P.D. & J.C. Schittny (1990). Molecular architecture of basement membranes. FASEB J. 4: 1577-1590.

  9. Yurchenco, P.D., Y-S. Cheng & H. Colognato (1992). Laminin forms an independent network in basement membranes. J. Cell Biol. 117: 1119-1133.

  10. Hayashi, K., J.A. Madri & P.D. Yurchenco (1992). Endothelial cells interact with the core protein of base-ment membrane perlecan through b1 and b3 integrins: an adhesion modulated by glycosaminoglycan. J. Cell Biol. 119: 945 - 959.

  11. Gee, S.H., R.W. Blacher, P.J. Douville, P.R. Provost, P.D. Yurchenco & S. Carbonetto (1993). LBP120 from brain is closely related to the dystrophin-associated glycoprotein, dystroglycan, and binds with high affinity to the major heparin binding domain of laminin. J. Biol. Chem. 268: 14972-14980.

  12. Yurchenco, P.D., U. Sung, M. Ward, Y. Yamada & J.J. O'Rear (1993). Recombinant laminin G domain mediates myoblast adhesion and heparin binding. J. Biol. Chem. 268: 8356-8365.

  13. Yurchenco, P.D. & Y.-S. Cheng (1993). Self-assembly and calcium-binding sites in laminin: A three-arm interaction model. J. Biol. Chem. 268: 17286-17299.

  14. Sung, U., J.J. O'Rear & P.D. Yurchenco (1993). Cell and heparin binding in the distal long arm of laminin: identification of active and cryptic sites with recombinant and hybrid glycoprotein. J. Cell Biol. 123: 1255-1268.

  15. Nicosia, R.F., E. Bonanno, M. Smith, and P.D. Yurchenco (1994). Modulation of angiogenesis in vitro by laminin-entactin complex. Dev. Biol. 164: 197-206.

  16. Calof, A.L., M.R. Campanero, J.J. O'Rear, P.D. Yurchenco & A.D. Lander (1994). Domain-specific activation of neuronal migration and neurite outgrowth-promoting activities of laminin. Neuron 13: 117-130.

  17. Colognato-Pyke, H., J.J. O'Rear, Y. Yamada , S. Carbonetto Y.-S. Cheng, & P. D. Yurchenco (1995). Mapping of network-forming, heparin-binding, and a1b1 integrin-recognition sites within the a-chain short arm of laminin-1. J. Biol. Chem. 270: 9398-9406.

  18. Rambukkana, A., J.L. Salzer, P.D. Yurchenco & E.I. Tuomanen (1997). Neural targeting of Mycobacterium leprae mediated by the G domain of the laminin a2 chain. Cell 88: 1-20.

  19. Yurchenco, P.D., Y. Quan, H. Colognato, T. Mathus, D. Harrison, Y. Yamada & J.J. O'Rear (1997). The a-chain of laminin-1 is independently secreted and drives secretion of its b and g chain partners. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 94: 10189-10194.

  20. Colognato, H., M. MacCarrick, J.J. O'Rear & P.D. Yurchenco (1997). The laminin a2-chain short arm mediates cell adhesion through both the a1b1 and a2b1 integrins. J. Biol. Chem. 272: 29330-29336.

  21. Sung, U., J.J. O'Rear and P.D. Yurchenco (1997). Localization of heparin binding activity in recombinant laminin G domain. Eur. J. Biochem. 250: 138-143.

  22. Cheng, Y.-S., M.-F. Champliaud, R.E. Burgeson, Marinkovich, M.P. & P.D. Yurchenco (1997). Self-assembly of laminin isoforms. J. Biol. Chem. 272: 31525-31532.

  23. Schuger, L., P. Yurchenco, N.K. Relan, and Y. Yang. (1998). Laminin fragment E4 inhibition studies: basement membrane assembly and embryonic lung epithelial cell polarization requires laminin polymerization. Int. J. Devel. Biol. 42: 217-220.

  24. Rambukkanda, A., H. Yamada, G. Zanazzi, T. Mathus, J. L. Salzer, P. D. Yurchenco, K. P. Campbell & V. A. Fischetti (1998). Role of a-dystroglycan as a Schwann cell receptor for Mycobacterium leprae. Science 282: 2076-2079.

  25. Colognato, H, Winkelmann, D and P.D. Yurchenco (1999). Laminin polymerization induces a receptor-cytoskeleton network. J. Cell Biol. 145: 619-631.

  26. Colognato, H., and P. D. Yurchenco. (1999). The laminin a2 expressed by dystrophic dy(2J) mice is defective in its ability to form polymers. Curr Biol. 9:1327-1330.

  27. Kammerer, R. A., T. Schulthess, R. Landwehr, B. Schumacher, A. Lustig, P. D. Yurchenco, M. A.Ruegg, J. Engel, and A. J. Denzer (1999). Interaction of agrin with laminin requires a coiled-coil conformation of the agrin-binding site within the laminin g1 chain. EMBO J. 18:6762-6770.

  28. Colognato, H. and P.D. Yurchenco. 2000. Form and function: the laminin family of heterotrimers (2000). Dev. Dyn. 218: 213-234.

  29. O'Brien, L. E., T. S. Jou, A. L. Pollack, Q. Zhang, S. H. Hansen, P. Yurchenco, and K. E. Mostov (2001). Rac1 orientates epithelial apical polarity through effects on basolateral laminin assembly. Nat. Cell Biol. 3: 831-838.

  30. Tsiper, M. and P.D. Yurchenco. (2002). Laminin assembles into separate basement membrane and fibrillar matrices in Schwann cells. J. Cell Sci. 115: 1005-1015.

  31. Smirnov, S., E. McDearmon, S. Li, J. Ervasti, K. Tryggvason and P.D.Yurchenco (2002). Contributions of the LG modules and furin-processing to laminin-2 functions. J. Biol. Chem. 277: 18928-18937.

  32. Li, S., D. Harrison, S. Carbonetto, R. Faessler, N. Smyth, D. Edgar and P.D. Yurchenco (2002). Matrix assembly, regulation and survival functions of laminin and its receptors in embryonic stem cell differentiation. J. Cell Biol. 157: 1279-1290.
Postdoctoral Position Available

POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP: A post-doctoral fellowship is available to study the role of basement membrane in the induction of embryonic differentiation.
 
Research Positions Available


RESEARCH ASSISTANT POSITION: A full-time Research Assistant position is available to work on a project on the differentiation of embryonic stem (ES) cells in an established N.I.H.-funded laboratory that focuses on the molecular assembly, structure and functions of extracellular matrix. The work will involve mammalian cell culturing, preparation of DNA constructs/recombinant expression, purification of proteins, immunoblotting, immunohistochemistry and related techniques as well as participation in general laboratory maintenance.

Experience in the techniques of biochemistry, molecular biology and tissue culturing as well as the ability to learn new techniques and to work independently are important. The applicant must have a BA/BS degree in biochemistry, molecular/cell biology or a related field.
 
Updated Date
07/25/2007

 

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