Fred Chang, PhD, MD
Professor
Cell and Tissue Biology
School of Dentistry

These are rod-shaped eukaryotic cells that display a highly uniform size and morphology. Many of our studies use live cell imaging and image analyses to develop quantitative models. Current projects include: regulation of cell size and growth, cytoplasmic density and turgor pressure, cell wall assembly, cytokinesis, and microtubule regulation. We use interdisciplinary approaches, combining the expertise and perspectives of cell biologists, geneticists, physicists, engineers and modelers.

• Reassessment of the Basis of Cell Size Control Based on Analysis of Cell-to-Cell Variability.
  Biophysical journal 2019 Facchetti G, Knapp B, Chang F, Howard M
• Effects of the microtubule nucleator Mto1 on chromosomal movement, DNA repair, and sister chromatid cohesion in fission yeast.
  Molecular biology of the cell 2019 Zhurinsky J, Salas-Pino S, Iglesias-Romero AB, Torres-Mendez A, Knapp B, Flor-Parra I, Wang J, Bao K, Jia S, Chang F, Daga RR
• Reprogramming Cdr2-Dependent Geometry-Based Cell Size Control in Fission Yeast.
  Current biology : CB 2019 Facchetti G, Knapp B, Flor-Parra I, Chang F, Howard M
• Structural basis of tubulin recruitment and assembly by microtubule polymerases with tumor overexpressed gene (TOG) domain arrays.
  eLife 2018 Nithianantham S, Cook BD, Beans M, Guo F, Chang F, Al-Bassam J
• Who's Your DadA? d-Alanine Levels Regulate Bacterial Stiffness.
  mBio 2018 Odermatt PD, Arjes HA, Chang F, Huang KC
• The outer membrane is an essential load-bearing element in Gram-negative bacteria.
  Nature 2018 Rojas ER, Billings G, Odermatt PD, Auer GK, Zhu L, Miguel A, Chang F, Weibel DB, Theriot JA, Huang KC
• The XMAP215 Ortholog Alp14 Promotes Microtubule Nucleation in Fission Yeast.
  Current biology : CB 2018 Flor-Parra I, Iglesias-Romero AB, Chang F
• Forces that shape fission yeast cells.
  Molecular biology of the cell 2017 Chang F
• Morphogenesis of the Fission Yeast Cell through Cell Wall Expansion.
  Current biology : CB 2015 Atilgan E, Magidson V, Khodjakov A, Chang F
• Electrochemical regulation of budding yeast polarity.
  PLoS biology 2014 Haupt A, Campetelli A, Bonazzi D, Piel M, Chang F, Minc N
• The contractile ring coordinates curvature-dependent septum assembly during fission yeast cytokinesis.
  Molecular biology of the cell 2014 Zhou Z, Munteanu EL, He J, Ursell T, Bathe M, Huang KC, Chang F
• How and why cells grow as rods.
  BMC biology 2014 Chang F, Huang KC
• Electrochemical control of cell and tissue polarity.
  Annual review of cell and developmental biology 2014 Chang F, Minc N
• Cortical regulation of cell size by a sizer cdr2p.
  eLife 2014 Pan KZ, Saunders TE, Flor-Parra I, Howard M, Chang F
• Role of turgor pressure in endocytosis in fission yeast.
  Molecular biology of the cell 2014 Basu R, Munteanu EL, Chang F
• Manipulating cell shape by placing cells into micro-fabricated chambers.
  Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) 2014 Chang F, Atilgan E, Burgess D, Minc N
• Csi1 links centromeres to the nuclear envelope for centromere clustering.
  The Journal of cell biology 2012 Hou H, Zhou Z, Wang Y, Wang J, Kallgren SP, Kurchuk T, Miller EA, Chang F, Jia S
• Myosin Vs organize actin cables in fission yeast.
  Molecular biology of the cell 2012 Lo Presti L, Chang F, Martin SG
• Localization of cytokinesis factors to the future cell division site by microtubule-dependent transport.
  Cytoskeleton (Hoboken, N.J.) 2012 Atilgan E, Burgess D, Chang F
• Contributions of turgor pressure, the contractile ring, and septum assembly to forces in cytokinesis in fission yeast.
  Current biology : CB 2012 Proctor SA, Minc N, Boudaoud A, Chang F
• Fission yeast Alp14 is a dose-dependent plus end-tracking microtubule polymerase.
  Molecular biology of the cell 2012 Al-Bassam J, Kim H, Flor-Parra I, Lal N, Velji H, Chang F
• Noise reduction in the intracellular pom1p gradient by a dynamic clustering mechanism.
  Developmental cell 2012 Saunders TE, Pan KZ, Angel A, Guan Y, Shah JV, Howard M, Chang F
• Characterization of dip1p reveals a switch in Arp2/3-dependent actin assembly for fission yeast endocytosis.
  Current biology : CB 2011 Basu R, Chang F
• Influence of cell geometry on division-plane positioning.
  Cell 2011 Minc N, Burgess D, Chang F
• CLASP promotes microtubule rescue by recruiting tubulin dimers to the microtubule.
  Developmental cell 2010 Al-Bassam J, Kim H, Brouhard G, van Oijen A, Harrison SC, Chang F
• Electrical control of cell polarization in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe.
  Current biology : CB 2010 Minc N, Chang F
• Regulation of cytokinesis by the formin cdc12p.
  Current biology : CB 2010 Yonetani A, Chang F
• Cell-cycle control: don't supersize me.
  Current biology : CB 2009 Pan KZ, Chang F
• Shaping fission yeast with microtubules.
  Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology 2009 Chang F, Martin SG
• Mechanical forces of fission yeast growth.
  Current biology : CB 2009 Minc N, Boudaoud A, Chang F
• Establishing new sites of polarization by microtubules.
  Current biology : CB 2009 Minc N, Bratman SV, Basu R, Chang F
• Mechanisms for maintaining microtubule bundles.
  Trends in cell biology 2008 Bratman SV, Chang F
• Regulation and targeting of the fission yeast formin cdc12p in cytokinesis.
  Molecular biology of the cell 2008 Yonetani A, Lustig RJ, Moseley JB, Takeda T, Goode BL, Chang F
• Stabilization of overlapping microtubules by fission yeast CLASP.
  Developmental cell 2007 Bratman SV, Chang F
• Regulation of the formin for3p by cdc42p and bud6p.
  Molecular biology of the cell 2007 Martin SG, Rincón SA, Basu R, Pérez P, Chang F
• Shaping the actin cytoskeleton using microtubule tips.
  Current opinion in cell biology 2006 Basu R, Chang F
• The cell-end factor pom1p inhibits mid1p in specification of the cell division plane in fission yeast.
  Current biology : CB 2006 Padte NN, Martin SG, Howard M, Chang F
• Self-organization of microtubule bundles in anucleate fission yeast cells.
  Nature cell biology 2006 Daga RR, Lee KG, Bratman S, Salas-Pino S, Chang F
• Asymmetric microtubule pushing forces in nuclear centering.
  Current biology : CB 2006 Daga RR, Yonetani A, Chang F
• Regulation of cytokinesis by spindle-pole bodies.
  Nature cell biology 2006 Magidson V, Chang F, Khodjakov A
• Dynamics of the formin for3p in actin cable assembly.
  Current biology : CB 2006 Martin SG, Chang F
• New end take off: regulating cell polarity during the fission yeast cell cycle.
  Cell cycle (Georgetown, Tex.) 2005 Martin SG, Chang F
• Role of fission yeast myosin I in organization of sterol-rich membrane domains.
  Current biology : CB 2005 Takeda T, Chang F
• Dynamic positioning of the fission yeast cell division plane.
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2005 Daga RR, Chang F
• Tea4p links microtubule plus ends with the formin for3p in the establishment of cell polarity.
  Developmental cell 2005 Martin SG, McDonald WH, Yates JR, Chang F
• Effects of {gamma}-tubulin complex proteins on microtubule nucleation and catastrophe in fission yeast.
  Molecular biology of the cell 2005 Zimmerman S, Chang F
• Regulation of actin assembly by microtubules in fission yeast cell polarity.
  Novartis Foundation symposium 2005 Chang F, Feierbach B, Martin S
• Intra-nuclear microtubules and a mitotic spindle orientation checkpoint.
  Nature cell biology 2004 Zimmerman S, Daga RR, Chang F
• Organization of a sterol-rich membrane domain by cdc15p during cytokinesis in fission yeast.
  Nature cell biology 2004 Takeda T, Kawate T, Chang F
• Laser microsurgery in fission yeast; role of the mitotic spindle midzone in anaphase B.
  Current biology : CB 2004 Khodjakov A, La Terra S, Chang F
• Imaging green fluorescent protein fusions in living fission yeast cells.
  Methods (San Diego, Calif.) 2004 Tran PT, Paoletti A, Chang F
• Regulation of a formin complex by the microtubule plus end protein tea1p.
  The Journal of cell biology 2004 Feierbach B, Verde F, Chang F
• Rsp1p, a J domain protein required for disassembly and assembly of microtubule organizing centers during the fission yeast cell cycle.
  Developmental cell 2004 Zimmerman S, Tran PT, Daga RR, Niwa O, Chang F
• HIV-1 Vpr induces defects in mitosis, cytokinesis, nuclear structure, and centrosomes.
  Molecular biology of the cell 2004 Chang F, Re F, Sebastian S, Sazer S, Luban J
• Cell polarity: a new mod(e) of anchoring.
  Current biology : CB 2003 Martin SG, Chang F
• The contractile ring.
  Current biology : CB 2003 Chang F, Burgess D
• Yeasts make their mark.
  Nature cell biology 2003 Chang F, Peter M
• Mid2p stabilizes septin rings during cytokinesis in fission yeast.
  The Journal of cell biology 2003 Berlin A, Paoletti A, Chang F
• Actin dynamics in the contractile ring during cytokinesis in fission yeast.
  Nature 2002 Pelham RJ, Chang F
• Cell biology. Formins set the record straight.
  Science (New York, N.Y.) 2002 Chang F, Peter M
• Analysis of mid1p, a protein required for placement of the cell division site, reveals a link between the nucleus and the cell surface in fission yeast.
  Molecular biology of the cell 2000 Paoletti A, Chang F
• cdc12p, a protein required for cytokinesis in fission yeast, is a component of the cell division ring and interacts with profilin.
  The Journal of cell biology 1997 Chang F, Drubin D, Nurse P
• How fission yeast fission in the middle.
  Cell 1996 Chang F, Nurse P
• Isolation and characterization of fission yeast mutants defective in the assembly and placement of the contractile actin ring.
  Journal of cell science 1996 Chang F, Woollard A, Nurse P
• Finishing the cell cycle: control of mitosis and cytokinesis in fission yeast.
  Trends in genetics : TIG 1993 Chang F, Nurse P
• Phosphorylation of FAR1 in response to alpha-factor: a possible requirement for cell-cycle arrest.
  Molecular biology of the cell 1992 Chang F, Herskowitz I
• Regulators of synthesis and activity of the G1 cyclins of budding yeast.
  Cold Spring Harbor symposia on quantitative biology 1991 Herskowitz I, Ogas J, Andrews BJ, Chang F
• Identification of a gene necessary for cell cycle arrest by a negative growth factor of yeast: FAR1 is an inhibitor of a G1 cyclin, CLN2.
  Cell 1990 Chang F, Herskowitz I
• CDC36 and CDC39 are negative elements in the signal transduction pathway of yeast.
  Cell regulation 1990 Neiman AM, Chang F, Komachi K, Herskowitz I