UCLA Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry : UCLA Portal

Website:

Al Courey's Home Page.

Work Email Address:

courey@chem.ucla.edu

Laboratory Address:

Boyer Hall 536

Boyer Hall 522

Office Address:

Boyer Hall 540

Work Phone Number:

1 (310) 825-2530

Chair and Professor
Chemistry and Biochemistry

Professor
Biochemistry

Member
ACCESS Program: Depts. of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, JCCC Gene Regulation Program Area

A Short Biography:

Dr. Courey received a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Oberlin College in 1979, and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Harvard University in 1986. He carried out postdoctoral research in biochemistry at U.C. Berkeley from 1986-1989 and joined the UCLA faculty in 1990.

Awards and Honors:

Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Research Award ; Hanson-Dow Teaching Award ; Searle Scholars Award ; American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow ; Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Research Fund Postdoctoral Fellowship

Research Interest:

Overview- The Molecular Basis of Development

During embryogenesis, a cluster of apparently undifferentiated cells is transformed into an ordered array of differentiated tissues. Using Drosophila as a model system, my research group combines biochemical and genetic approaches to study the molecular basis of this amazing transformation. Essentially all the regulatory circuits we study are conserved throughout the animal kingdom. Therefore, our studies have important implications for human health and development.

The following two major projects are currently underway in the lab.

Spatial and temporal regulation of transcription in development. We have been extensively examining mechanisms of activation and repression by the Dorsal morphogen, a transcription factor that determines the dorsal/ventral axis during early development. This factor is the Drosophila homolog of the vertebrate regulatory protein NF-kB. Like Dorsal, NF-kB is involved in both the determination of embryonic polarity and in the innate immune response. Furthermore, both Dorsal and NF-kB are regulated by homologous signal transduction cascades that control transcription factor activity by regulating nuclear import.
More Information

Role of Sumo-conjugation in development. Sumo is a recently discovered member of the ubiquitin family that is conserved throughout all eukaryotes. This polypeptide is a substrate for a protein conjugation system, in which Sumo becomes covalently attached to numerous target proteins modifying their behavior in various ways. We are attempting to learn about the roles of Sumo in cell biology and development. Our analysis has revealed possible roles for this process in regulated nuclear import, embryonic pattern formation, the immune response, and the stress response.
More Information

Drosophila and human development are homologous processes. They utilize closely related genes working in highly conserved regulatory networks. Unlike humans, Drosophila is subject to easy genetic manipulation. As a result, most of what we know about the molecular basis of animal development has come from studies of model systems such as Drosophila.

Detailed Biography:

Dr. Courey, who is from Buffalo, New York, joined the UCLA faculty in 1990 and was promoted to full professor in 1999. He has served the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry as Graduate Advisor (2003-2005), Vice Chair for Education (2001-2005), and Chair (2008-present). He also serves on the Advisory Committee of the Molecular Biology Interdepartmental Program and is one of the founders of the Gene Regulation Interdepartmental Program. Dr. Courey has instructed a course at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories in Protein Purification and Characterization every spring since 1996. His lab uses Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism to study transcriptional control mechanisms as well as the cell and developmental biology of SUMO, a ubiquitin-family protein. Dr. Courey has authored a textbook entitled Mechanisms in Transcriptional Regulation (Blackwell Publishing Company). He is an avid pianist and holds a Bachelor's degree in Piano Performance from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music.

Publications:

Nie Minghua, Xie Yongming, Loo Joseph A, Courey Albert J Genetic and proteomic evidence for roles of Drosophila SUMO in cell cycle control, Ras signaling, and early pattern formation. PloS one, 2009; 4(6): e5905.

Ratnaparkhi, G. S. Jia, S. Courey, A. J. Uncoupling Dorsal-mediated activation from Dorsal-mediated repression in the Drosophila embryo Development, 2006; 133(22): 4409-14.

Hasson, P. Egoz, N. Winkler, C. Volohonsky, G. Jia, S. Dinur, T. Volk, T. Courey, A. J. Paroush, Z. EGFR signaling attenuates Groucho-dependent repression to antagonize Notch transcriptional output Nat Genet, 2005; 37(1): 101-5.

Takanaka, Y. Courey, A. J. SUMO enhances vestigial function during wing morphogenesis Mech Dev, 2005; 122(10): 1130-7.

Song, H. Hasson, P. Paroush, Z. Courey, A. J. Groucho oligomerization is required for repression in vivo Mol Cell Biol, 2004; 24(10): 4341-50.

Bhaskar, V. Smith, M. Courey, A. J. Conjugation of Smt3 to dorsal may potentiate the Drosophila immune response Mol Cell Biol, 2002; 22(2): 492-504.

Jia, S. Flores-Saaib, R. D. Courey, A. J. The Dorsal Rel homology domain plays an active role in transcriptional regulation Mol Cell Biol, 2002; 22(14): 5089-99.

Flores-Saaib, R. D. Jia, S. Courey, A. J. Activation and repression by the C-terminal domain of Dorsal Development, 2001; 128(10): 1869-79.

Courey AJ Cooperativity in Transcriptional Control. Current Biology, 2001; 7: R250-R252.

Courey AJ, Jia S Transcriptional repression: the long and the short of it. Genes and Development, 2001; 15: 2786-2796.

Flores-Saaib, R. D. Courey, A. J. Regulation of dorso/ventral patterning in the Drosophila embryo by multiple dorsal-interacting proteins Cell Biochem Biophys, 2000; 33(1): 1-17.

Courey, A. J. Analysis of altered DNA structures: cruciform DNA Methods Mol Biol, 1999; 94: 29-40.

Chen, G. Courey, A. J. Baculovirus-transfer vector for eukaryotic expression and immunoaffinity purification of Gal4-fusion proteins Biotechniques, 1999; 26(5): 808-10, 812, 814.

Chen, G. Nguyen, P. H. Courey, A. J. A role for Groucho tetramerization in transcriptional repression Mol Cell Biol, 1998; 18(12): 7259-68.

Valentine, S. A. Chen, G. Shandala, T. Fernandez, J. Mische, S. Saint, R. Courey, A. J. Dorsal-mediated repression requires the formation of a multiprotein repression complex at the ventral silencer Mol Cell Biol, 1998; 18(11): 6584-94.

Shirokawa, J. M. Courey, A. J. A direct contact between the dorsal rel homology domain and Twist may mediate transcriptional synergy Mol Cell Biol, 1997; 17(6): 3345-55.

Rudolph, K. M. Liaw, G. J. Daniel, A. Green, P. Courey, A. J. Hartenstein, V. Lengyel, J. A. Complex regulatory region mediating tailless expression in early embryonic patterning and brain development Development, 1997; 124(21): 4297-308.

Dubnicoff T, Valentine SA, Chen G, Shi T, Lengyel JA, Paroush Z, Courey AJ Conversion of Dorsal from an activator to a repressor by the global corepressor Groucho. Genes and Development, 1997; 11: 2952-2957.

Schwyter, D. H. Huang, J. D. Dubnicoff, T. Courey, A. J. The decapentaplegic core promoter region plays an integral role in the spatial control of transcription Mol Cell Biol, 1995; 15(7): 3960-8.

Pan, D. Valentine, S. A. Courey, A. J. The bipartite D. melanogaster twist promoter is reorganized in D. virilis Mech Dev, 1994; 46(1): 41-53.

Huang, J. D. Schwyter, D. H. Shirokawa, J. M. Courey, A. J. The interplay between multiple enhancer and silencer elements defines the pattern of decapentaplegic expression Genes Dev, 1993; 7(4): 694-704.

Pan, D. Courey, A. J. The same dorsal binding site mediates both activation and repression in a context-dependent manner Embo J, 1992; 11(5): 1837-42.

Pan, D. J. Huang, J. D. Courey, A. J. Functional analysis of the Drosophila twist promoter reveals a dorsal-binding ventral activator region Genes Dev, 1991; 5(10): 1892-901.

Courey, A. J. Wang, J. C. Cruciform formation in a negatively supercoiled DNA may be kinetically forbidden under physiological conditions Cell, 1983; 33(3): 817-29.

Ratnaparkhi Girish S, Duong Hao A, Courey Albert J Dorsal interacting protein 3 potentiates activation by Drosophila Rel homology domain proteins. Developmental and comparative immunology, 2008; 32(11): 1290-300.

Duong Hao A, Nagaraj Raghavendra, Wang Cheng W, Ratnaparkhi Girish, Sun Y Henry, Courey Albert J Non-cell-autonomous inhibition of photoreceptor development by Dip3. Developmental biology, 2008; 323(1): 105-13.

Duong Hao A, Wang Cheng Wei, Sun Y Henry, Courey Albert J Transformation of eye to antenna by misexpression of a single gene. Mechanisms of development, 2008; 125(1-2): 130-41.

Qiao, F. Harada, B. Song, H. Whitelegge, J. Courey, A. J. Bowie, J. U. Mae inhibits Pointed-P2 transcriptional activity by blocking its MAPK docking site Embo J, 2006; 25(1): 70-9.

Song, H. Nie, M. Qiao, F. Bowie, J. U. Courey, A. J. Antagonistic regulation of Yan nuclear export by Mae and Crm1 may increase the stringency of the Ras response Genes Dev, 2005; 19(15): 1767-72.

Hasson P, Egoz N, Winkler C, Volohonsky G, Jia S, Dinur T, Volk T, Courey AJ, Paroush Z EGFR signaling attenuates Groucho-dependent repression to antagonize Notch transcriptional output. Nature genetics. , 2005; 37(1): 101-5.

Smith, M. Bhaskar, V. Fernandez, J. Courey, A. J. Drosophila Ulp1, a nuclear pore-associated SUMO protease, prevents accumulation of cytoplasmic SUMO conjugates J Biol Chem, 2004; 279(42): 43805-14.

Qiao F, Song H, Kim CA, Sawaya MR, Hunter JB, Gingery M, Rebay I, Courey AJ, Bowie JU Derepression by depolymerization; structural insights into the regulation of Yan by Mae Cell, 2004; 118(2): 163-73.

Bhaskar, V. Courey, A. J. The MADF-BESS domain factor Dip3 potentiates synergistic activation by Dorsal and Twist Gene, 2002; 299(1-2): 173-84.

Jia S, Flores-Saaib RD, Courey AJ The Dorsal Rel homology domain plays an active role in transcriptional regulation. Molecular and cellular biology. , 2002; 22(14): 5089-99.

Bhaskar V, Smith M, Courey AJ Conjugation of Smt3 to dorsal may potentiate the Drosophila immune response. Molecular and cellular biology. , 2002; 22(2): 492-504.

Courey, A. J. Jia, S. Transcriptional repression: the long and the short of it Genes Dev, 2001; 15(21): 2786-96.

Flores-Saaib RD, Jia S, Courey AJ Activation and repression by the C-terminal domain of Dorsal. Development (Cambridge, England) , 2001; 128(10): 1869-79.

Courey, A. J. Cooperativity in transcriptional control Curr Biol, 2001; 11(7): R250-2.

Flores-Saaib, R. D. Courey, A. J. Analysis of Groucho-histone interactions suggests mechanistic similarities between Groucho- and Tup1-mediated repression Nucleic Acids Res, 2000; 28(21): 4189-96.

Chen, G. Courey, A. J. Groucho/TLE family proteins and transcriptional repression Gene, 2000; 249(1-2): 1-16.

Bhaskar, V. Valentine, S. A. Courey, A. J. A functional interaction between dorsal and components of the Smt3 conjugation machinery J Biol Chem, 2000; 275(6): 4033-40.

Chen, G. Fernandez, J. Mische, S. Courey, A. J. A functional interaction between the histone deacetylase Rpd3 and the corepressor groucho in Drosophila development Genes Dev, 1999; 13(17): 2218-30.

Chen G, Fernandez J, Mische S, Courey AJ A functional interaction between the histone deacetylase Rpd3 and the corepressor groucho in Drosophila development. Genes & development. , 1999; 13(17): 2218-30.

Chen G, Nguyen PH, Courey AJ A role for Groucho tetramerization in transcriptional repression. Molecular and cellular biology. , 1998; 18(12): 7259-68.

Valentine SA, Chen G, Shandala T, Fernandez J, Mische S, Saint R, Courey AJ Dorsal-mediated repression requires the formation of a multiprotein repression complex at the ventral silencer. Molecular and cellular biology. , 1998; 18(11): 6584-94.

Dubnicoff, T. Valentine, S. A. Chen, G. Shi, T. Lengyel, J. A. Paroush, Z. Courey, A. J. Conversion of dorsal from an activator to a repressor by the global corepressor Groucho Genes Dev, 1997; 11(22): 2952-7.

Shirokawa JM, Courey AJ A direct contact between the dorsal rel homology domain and Twist may mediate transcriptional synergy. Molecular and cellular biology. , 1997; 17(6): 3345-55.

Huang, J. D. Dubnicoff, T. Liaw, G. J. Bai, Y. Valentine, S. A. Shirokawa, J. M. Lengyel, J. A. Courey, A. J. Binding sites for transcription factor NTF-1/Elf-1 contribute to the ventral repression of decapentaplegic Genes Dev, 1995; 9(24): 3177-89.

Liaw, G. J. Rudolph, K. M. Huang, J. D. Dubnicoff, T. Courey, A. J. Lengyel, J. A. The torso response element binds GAGA and NTF-1/Elf-1, and regulates tailless by relief of repression Genes Dev, 1995; 9(24): 3163-76.

Courey, A. J. Huang, J. D. The establishment and interpretation of transcription factor gradients in the Drosophila embryo Biochim Biophys Acta, 1995; 1261(1): 1-18.

Liaw, G. J. Steingrimsson, E. Pignoni, F. Courey, A. J. Lengyel, J. A. Characterization of downstream elements in a Raf-1 pathway Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 1993; 90(3): 858-62.

Al Courey, Ph.D.