Experience
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2014 - present: Associate Professor, Department of Biology, School of Sciences and Humanities, Nazarbayev University, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
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2001–2015: Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas (*2011-2015 by affiliation)
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1996–2001: Postdoctoral fellow with Prof. R. A. Anderson Department of Pharmacology, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Research topic: “Molecular basis of phosphatidylinositol phosphate kinase specificity”.
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1996–2001: Postdoctoral fellow with Prof. M. N. Hall Biozentrum of the University of Basel and with Prof. M. Waterfield at the Ludwig Institute in London. Research topic: “The TOR signaling pathway and regulation of growth control”
Education
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1989–1993 Graduate Education: Dept. of Biochemistry, University of Basel, Switzerland
Ph.D.in Biochemistry, Adviser Prof. M. N. Hall. Grade “Summa cum laude”.
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1984–1989 Undergraduate Education: University of Basel, Switzerland, Biozentrum
Publications
Citations: 4663 (Google Scholar, April 2020); h-index: 21
Peer-reviewed publications and book chapters
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Wagner, P., Kunz, J., Koller, A., and Hall, M.N. (1990) Active transport of proteins into the nucleus. FEBS Lett. 275, 1-5.
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Kunz, J., Henriquez, R., Schneider, U., Deuter-Reinhard, M., Movva, N.R., and Hall, M.N. (1993) Target of rapamycin in yeast, TOR2, is an essential phosphatidylinositol kinase homolog required for G1 progression. Cell 73, 585-596. Link1 Link2
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Kunz, J., and Hall, M.N. (1993) CsA, FK506, and rapamycin: More than just immunosuppression. Trends in Biochem. Sci. 18, 334-338.
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Heitman, J., Koller, T., Kunz, J., Henriquez, R., Movva, R.N., and Hall, M.N. (1993) The immunosuppressant FK506 inhibits amino acid import in Saccharomyces cerevisae. Mol. Cell. Biol. 13, 5010-5019.
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Helliwell, S., Wagner, P., Kunz, J., Henriquez, R., Deuter-Reinhart, M., and Hall, M.N. (1994) TOR1 and TOR2 are structurally and functionally similar but not identical phosphatidylinositol kinase homologues in yeast. Mol. Biol. Cell 5, 105-118.
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Schmidt, A., Kunz, J., and Hall, M.N. (1996) TOR2 is required for the organization of the actin cytoskeleton in yeast. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 93,13780-13785.
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Kunz J. (1997) Unravelling immunosuppressive drug action through yeast genetics. XII. Merck Symposium, Blackwell Wissenschaft, Berlin. pp. 57-64. (Book chapter)
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Schmidt, A., Beck, T., Koller, A., Kunz, J., and Hall, M.N. (1998) The TOR nutrient signalling pathway phosphorylates NPR1 and inhibits turnover of the tryptophan permease. EMBO J. 17, 6924-6931.
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Anderson, R.A., Boronenkov, I., Doughman, S., Kunz, J., and Loijens, J. (1998) PIP kinases: A multifaceted family of lipid kinases. J. Biol. Chem. 274: 9907-9910.
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Arneson, L.S., Kunz, J., Anderson, R.A., and Traub, L.M. (1999) Coupled inositide phosphorylation and phospholipase D activation initiates clathrin-coat assembly on lysosomes. J. Biol. Chem. 274, 17794-17805.
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Kunz, J., Wilson, M. P., Kisseleva, M., Hurley, J. H., Majerus, P. W., and Anderson, R. A. (2000). The activation loop of phosphatidylinositolphosphate kinases determines signaling specificity. Mol Cell 5, 1-11.
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Kunz, J., Deuter-Reinhard, M., and Hall, M. N. (2000). FAP1, a homologue of human transcription factor NF-X1, competes with rapamycin for binding to FKBP12 in yeast. Mol Microbiol. 37, 1480-1493.
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Kunz, J., Schneider, U., Stevenson, I., Schmidt, A., and Hall, M. N. (2000). HEAT repeats mediate plasma membrane localization of Tor2 in yeast. J. Biol. Chem. 275, 37011-37020.
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Kunz, J., Fuelling, A., Kolbe, L., and Anderson, R. A. (2002), Stereo-specific substrate recognition of phosphatidylinositol phosphate kinases is swapped by changing a single amino acid residue. J. Biol. Chem. 277, 5611-5619
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Fadri, M., Daquinag, A., Wang, S., Xue, T., and Kunz, J. (2005) The pleckstrin homology domain proteins Slm1 and Slm2 are required for actin cytoskeleton organization in yeast and bind phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate and TORC2. Mol. Biol Cell 16: 1883-900.
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Hiesinger, R., Fayyazuddin, A.,Mehta, S. Q., Rosenmund, T., Schulze, K., Zhai, R. G., Verstreken, P., Cao, Y., Zhou, Y., Kunz, J., and Bellen, H. (2005) The v-ATPase V0 Subunit a1 Is Required for a Late Step in Synaptic Vesicle Exocytosis in Drosophila. Cell 121: 607-620.
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Kumar V, Zhang X, Swank M, Kunz J., and Wu G.Y. (2005). Regulation of dendritic morphogenesis by Ras-PI3K-Akt-mTOR and Ras-MAPK signaling pathways. J Neurosci. 25:11288-99
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Daquinag, A., Fadri, M., Jung, S.Y., Qin, J., and Kunz, J. (2006). The yeast PH domain proteins Slm1 and Slm2 are targets of sphingolipid signaling during the response to heat stress. Mol. Cell. Biol. 27: 633 – 650. Epublished 17 Nov 2006.
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Lee, S.-H., Kunz, J., Lin, S.-H., and Yu-Lee, L.-Y. (2007). 16-kDa Prolactin Inhibits Endothelial Cell Migration by Downregulating the Ras-Tiam1-Rac1-Pak1 Signaling Pathway. Cancer Res. 67(22):11045-53
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Chao WT and Kunz J. (2009). Focal adhesion disassembly requires clathrin-dependent endocytosis of integrins. FEBS Lett. 583:1337-43.
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Chao, W.T., Daquinag, A., Ashcroft, F., and Kunz, J. (2010). Type I phosphatidylinositol phosphate kinase I alpha regulates directed cell migration by modulating Rac1 membrane targeting and activation. J. Cell Biol. 190(2):247-62. Featured by Editor as “Editor’s choice” in the 2010 August issue of Sci. STKE; cited as recommended reading by "Faculty of 1000.
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Chao, W.T., Ashcroft, F., Daquinag, A., Vadakkan, T. Wei, Z., Zhang. P, Dickinson, M.E., and Kunz, J. (2010). Type I phosphatidylinositol phosphate kinase I beta regulates focal adhesion disassembly by promoting beta1 integrin endocytosis. Mol. Cell Biol. 30(18):4463-79. Epub 2010 Jul 12. Featured by Editor as “Spotlight” in the 2010 September issue of MCB.
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Zhubanchaliyev, A., Temirbekuli, A. Kongrtay, K., Corvin-Wanshura, L. and Kunz, J. (2016). Targeting mechanotransduction at the transcriptional level: YAP and BRD4 are novel therapeutic targets for the reversal of liver fibrosis. Frontiers Pharmacology, 7: 462. 01 December,
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Myngbay, A., Bexeitov, Y., Adilbayeva, A., Assylbekov, Z., Yevstratenko, B.P., Aitzhanova, R.M., Matkarimov, B., Adarichev, V.A., Kunz, J. (2019). CTHRC1: a new candidate serum biomarker for improved rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis. Frontiers in Immunology, 10:1353. 12 June,
Research Grant Support (Current)
ORAU Research Project Grant (Role: PI)
Phosphoinositide phosphate signaling networks: A novel therapeutic opportunity in breast cancer.
Dates of Project: 10/01/2016-09/30/2020
Total Funding: $400,000
ORAU Research Project Grant (Role: Co-PI)
Autoimmune mechanisms of Brucellosis-induced Spondyloarthritis
Dates of Project: 1/01/2017-12/31/2017
Total Funding: $120,000
Ministry of Education and Science, Republic of Kazakhstan (Role: Co-PI)
The Kazakhstan Soil Microbiome: Characterization of Agricultural Challenges and Opportunities
Dates of Project: 4/1/15-03/31/17
Total Funding: $65,000/yr
Social Policy Fund Nazarbayev University (Role : PI)
Targeting the phosphoinositide signaling cascade in cancer metastasis
Dates of Project: 10/15/15-09/30/16
Total Funding: $10,000
Prof. JEANNETTE KUNZ
Group Leader
- Location: 53 Kabanbay Batyr Ave., Nur-Sultan, 010000
- Office : Block 7, Room e520 (7.e520)
- Phone: +7 (702) 411 04 63
- Email:
