RTHRIFT@AARDVARK.UCS.UOKNOR.EDU (Richard Thrift) (12/01/90)
November 29, 1990
Dear People:
I am currently a postdoc, looking for a position in BASIC BIOCHEMICAL RESEARCH,
preferably with relatively little (or no) teaching involved, in academia or
industry. I am hoping for something with a reasonable possibility of becoming
more stable than the typical postdoctoral position. My main scientific
interests are the processes involved in protein secretion and in plasma
lipoprotein biosynthesis and secretion, but I am also interested in many other
areas, including the structure, function, and metabolism of secretory and
membrane proteins in general, lipid-protein interactions, and post-
translational modifications. My thesis project involved the characterization
of lipoproteins produced by a human liver cell line, to model plasma
lipoproteins as they are secreted in vivo before being modified in the
circulation. Subsequently I investigated the possibility that apolipoprotein B
is a transmembrane protein at an early stage in the assembly of VLDL (Very Low
Density Lipoprotein), and found evidence for a cytoplasmic mode of
intracellular degradation of uncomplexed apo B.
The research I am currently doing with Dr. Art Johnson (in collaboration with
Dr. Peter Walter) is directed at the secretory pathway itself; specifically the
identification of microsomal proteins involved in the integration of nascent
membrane proteins into, and translocation of secretory proteins across, the
endoplasmic reticulum membrane. Plasmids coding for membrane or secretory
proteins are linearized at appropriate sites within the coding sequence.
Transcription and translation produces truncated peptides of defined length
which, due to the lack of proper termination, retain the tRNA and ribosomes at
their COOH-termini. If the translations are done in the presence of microsomes
the ribosomes prevent the C-terminus from being translocated across the E.R.
membrane, thus trapping the peptide in transit across the membrane. Photolysis
at this point causes the peptide to become crosslinked to specific ER proteins
which are involved in the translocation process. This is an unusual approach,
which may also be useful in studying other co- or post-translational
interactions, including the formation of oligomeric complexes such as the T-
cell antigen receptor, or viral assembly.
I will be at the ASCB meeting in San Diego December 10-13, and have a poster
there (#430) Monday. Please feel free to call, write, or E-mail.
(By the way, from the notices I've seen here previously I don't really expect
this notice to reach many potential employers. I am quite curious to see
whether my impression is right)
_______________________________________________________________________________
RICHARD N THRIFT
Personal Data
Addresses:
University of Oklahoma 419 Forest Dr.
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Norman, OK 73069
620 Parrington Oval (405) 360-7964
Norman, OK 73019-0370
(405) 325-3551
Internet: Rthrift@Aardvark.ucs.uoknor.edu Bitnet: Rthrift@Uokucsvx
Social Security Number: 546-94-9252
Born: August 27, 1953, Owensboro, KY
Marital status: Married; two children
Education
AB (Biophysics) 8/79 University of California at Berkeley
MS (Biophysics) 6/82 University of California at Berkeley
PhD (Biophysics) 12/86 University of California at Berkeley
Primary Research Interests
Protein and lipoprotein biosynthesis and secretion; mechanisms of protein
translocation and targeting; protein structure/function; post-translational
modifications; lipid-protein interactions.
Recent Employment
9/88-present Postdoctoral Fellow; lab of Dr. Arthur E. Johnson, Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK.
(Studying microsomal proteins involved in integration of nascent membrane
proteins into the E.R.)
8/86-8/88 Postdoctoral Fellow; lab of Dr. Roger A. Davis, Hepatobiliary
Research Center, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver,
CO. (Studying assembly of apolipoprotein B into lipoproteins in rat liver.)
7/82-6/86 Graduate Student Research Associate/ PHS Predoctoral Trainee;lab
of Dr. Trudy M. Forte, Biology and Medicine Division, Lawrence Berkeley
Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA. (Characterization of
lipoprotein secretion by Hep G2 cells in culture.)
7/80-12/80 Research Assistant, lab of Dr Bradley J. Benson, Cardiovascular
Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, CA. (Analysis
of pulmonary surfactant components.)
Honors and Awards
Colorado Heart Association Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, "Determination
of Cytoplasmic Domains of Apolipoprotein B in Microsomes". $21,310.
7/1/87-6/30/88.
Best student presentation, 11th Western Regional Meeting of Electron
Microscopists, 5/83.
Publications
Thrift, RN, DW Andrews, P. Walter, and AE Johnson. Components of the
translocon: The transmembrane segment of a nascent membrane protein is
located adjacent to specific E.R. membrane proteins until termination of
protein synthesis. Ms. submitted for publication.
Davis, RA, RN Thrift, CC Wu, and KE Howell. 1990. Apolipoprotein B is both
integrated into and translocated across the endoplasmic reticulum membrane:
evidence for two functionally distinct pools. J. Biol. Chem. 265: 10005-
10011.
Lee, LY, WA Mohler, BL Schafer, JS Freudenberger, N Byrne-Connolly, KB Eager,
ST Mosly, JK Leighton, RN Thrift, RA Davis, and RD Tanaka. 1989.
Nucleotide sequence of rat low density lipoprotein receptor cDNA. Nucleic
Acids Res. 17: 1259-1260.
Chen, C-H, TM Forte, BE Cahoon, RN Thrift, and JJ Albers. 1986. Synthesis
and secretion of lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase by the human hepatoma
cell line HepG2. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 877: 433-439.
Thrift, RN, TM Forte, BE Cahoon, and VG Shore. 1986. Characterization of
lipoproteins produced by the human liver cell line, Hep G2, under defined
conditions. J. Lipid Res. 27: 236-250.
Thrift, RN, TM Forte, and RW Nordhausen. 1983. Low density lipoprotein
receptor localization using a colloidal gold label and surface replication.
Texas Society for Electron Microscopy Journal. 14(3): 25.