Douglas R. Mackay

Douglas R. Mackay, PhD

Languages spoken: English

Academic Information

Departments Primary - Oncological Sciences

Research Statement

I have been involved in research aimed at understanding the molecular regulation of abscission timing for 13 years, playing an integral role in key findings that demonstrate a link between nuclear pore reassembly and the abscission checkpoint. My research was also instrumental in uncovering a novel connection between postmitotic genome surveillance and the abscission checkpoint, which allowed me to characterize both Chk1 and ATR as factors upstream of Aurora B in abscission checkpoint signaling. Together, my contributions represent two previously uncharacterized physiological conditions where the abscission checkpoint is sustained, as well as the only known factors upstream of Aurora B in this context. I am currently collaborating with the Wes Sundquist Lab in the Department of Biochemistry to understand the function of novel proteins thought to be involved in the process of abscission and the abscission checkpoint. Connections between DNA damage signaling and abscission have fueled a parallel, yet synergistic interest in exploring how the nuclear pore components Nup153 and Nup50 are involved in the canonical DNA damage response.

Education History

Undergraduate University of Utah
 BS
Doctoral Training University of California, Irvine
 PhD
Postdoctoral Fellowship University of Utah
 Postdoctoral Fellow

Selected Publications

Journal Article

  1. Mackay DR, Elgort SW, Ullman K (2009). The nucleoporin Nup153 has separable roles in both early mitotic progression and the resolution of mitosis. Molecular biology of the cell, 20(6), 1652-60. (Read full article)
  2. Mackay DR, Ullman K (2015). ATR and a Chk1-Aurora B pathway coordinate postmitotic genome surveillance with cytokinetic abscission. Molecular biology of the cell, 26(12), 2217-26. (Read full article)
  3. Shankaran SS, Mackay DR, Ullman K (2013). A time-lapse imaging assay to study nuclear envelope breakdown. Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.), 931, 111-22. (Read full article)
  4. Makise M, Mackay DR, Elgort S, Shankaran SS, Adam SA, Ullman K (2012). The Nup153-Nup50 protein interface and its role in nuclear import. The Journal of biological chemistry, 287(46), 38515-22. (Read full article)
  5. Mackay DR, Makise M, Ullman K (2010). Defects in nuclear pore assembly lead to activation of an Aurora B-mediated abscission checkpoint. The Journal of cell biology, 191(5), 923-31. (Read full article)
  6. Mackay DR, Howa AC, Werner TL, Ullman K (2017). Nup153 and Nup50 promote recruitment of 53BP1 to DNA repair foci by antagonizing BRCA1-dependent events. Journal of cell science, 130(19), 3347-3359. (Read full article)
  7. Mackay DR, Ullman KS, Rodesch C (2010). Time-lapse imaging of mitosis after siRNA transfection.LID - 10.3791/1878 [doi]LID - 1878 [pii]. Journal of visualized experiments, (40), (Read full article)
  8. Mackay DR, Ullman K (2011). Coordinating postmitotic nuclear pore complex assembly with abscission timing. Nucleus (Austin, Tex.), 2(4), 283-8. (Read full article)