Wesley Sundquist

Wesley I. Sundquist
BornSeptember 11, 1959 (age 65)
Alma materCarleton College (BA; 1981)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD; 1988)
Known forResearch in HIV assembly and membrane remodeling
SpouseNola Sundquist
Children2
AwardsLouisa Gross Horwitz Prize (2024)[1]
Scientific career
FieldsStructural biology, biochemistry, virology, cell biology
InstitutionsUniversity of Utah (1992) MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology

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. ^ "Scott Emr and Wesley Sundquist Awarded 2024 Horwitz Prize for Discovering the ESCRT Pathway". Columbia University Irving Medical Center. 2024-09-17. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
  2. ^ "Wesley I. Sundquist | School of Medicine". medicine.utah.edu. 2023-01-19. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  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. doi:10.1126/science.283.5398.80. ISSN 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. Bibcode:2000Natur.407..409L. doi:10.1038/35030177. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 11014200.
  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. doi:10.1128/jvi.77.9.5439-5450.2003. ISSN 0022-538X. PMC 153941. PMID 12692245.
  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). doi:10.1126/science.abc8420. ISSN 0036-8075. PMC 8022914. PMID 33033190.
  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. doi:10.1016/S0092-8674(01)00506-2. ISSN 0092-8674. PMID 11595185.
  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. doi:10.1016/S0092-8674(03)00714-1. ISSN 0092-8674. PMID 14505570.
  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. Bibcode:2016Natur.540..292V. doi:10.1038/nature20607. ISSN 0028-0836. PMC 5729044. PMID 27919066.
  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. Bibcode:2007Natur.449..740S. doi:10.1038/nature06172. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 17928862.
  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. doi:10.1038/sj.emboj.7601850. ISSN 0261-4189. PMC 2230844. PMID 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. doi:10.7554/eLife.77779. ISSN 2050-084X. PMC 9477494. PMID 36107470.
  13. ^ "U Biochemist Sundquist Receives National Honor For Research Into How HIV Assembles, Spreads - UNews Archive". archive.unews.utah.edu. 2011-03-26. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  14. ^ "Member Directory | American Academy of Arts and Sciences". www.amacad.org. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
  15. ^ "Wesley I. Sundquist – NAS". www.nasonline.org/. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
  16. ^ "Recipients – Rosenblatt Prize". Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  17. ^ "First class". www.asbmb.org. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
  18. ^ "Gunderson Dettmer". Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP - Chris Sundquist. Retrieved 2024-10-28.