Biology

Jeff Thompson

Affiliation	Faculty
Title	Assistant Professor
Office	321 Talbot Hall
Email	thompsonjs@denison.edu
Phone	740-587-5581
Fax	740-587-5634

Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from The University of California, 1994
B.A. in Biology from Kalamazoo College, 1988

Academic Positions

Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Denison University. 2003 - present.

Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Georgian Court College. Lakewood, NJ, 1998-2003.

Adjunct Instructor, Science Division, Anne Arundel Community College. Arnold, MD, 1997-1998.

Research

My research interests revolve around mechanisms by which DNA is structurally and functionally organized within the nucleus of cells. Specifically, my lab studies histones, a family of highly conserved proteins that interact with DNA and other proteins to form chromatin. Chromatin can be arranged in a variety of structural conformations, which has implications for DNA accessibility and functionality (click here to see a cool animation on chromatin folding). We utilize a variety of genetic and molecular biology techniques to study the ways in which histones and histone-associated factors influence chromatin structure and function in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We are working on a number of projects to gain insight into the specific roles that histones play in gene regulation, DNA damage repair, and overall nuclear organization of the genome.
Research Positions

The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Laboratory of Dr. Andrew Feinberg, 1994-1998

The University of California, Molecular Biology Institute, Los Angeles, CA
Graduate Student Researcher & Staff Research Associate, Laboratory of Dr. Michael Grunstein, 1989-1994

The Upjohn Company, Kalamazoo, MI
Laboratory Technician, 1988

The National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD
Senior Research Student, Laboratory of Dr. Bruce Chassy, 1987

Denison Research Students

Current lab members:

Ariel Lee (since Summer 2007): Examination of the role of histone H3 lysine-79 methylation in nucleotide excision repair in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Jon Mecoli (since Summer 2007): X ray crystalographic analysis of the histone H3 E73D silencing/UVS mutation (working at Colorado State University in the laboratory of Dr. Karolin Luger).

Tasha Strande (since Summer 2007): Evaluating the relationship between histone H4 N terminal acetylation and H3 lysine-79 methylation in response to UV damage in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Past lab members:

Ashley Albrecht* (Summer 2006-Spring 2007): Histone H3 plays multiple roles in various subpathways of post replication repair in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Arzu Arat (Summer 2005): Epistatic analysis of Rad52 and Rad6 DNA repair pathways and UV-sensitive histone H3 mutations in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Lindsey Bostelman* (Summer 2004-Spring 2005): A structural domain in histone H3 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae plays dual roles in gene silencing and repair of UV-damaged DNA via the Rad18-dependent postreplication repair pathway.

Maggie Evans* (Summer 2006-Spring 2007): Acetylation states of lysine residues near the histone H4 Amino-Terminus have a combinatorial effect on UV-induced DNA damage repair in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Andrew Keller* (Summer 2005-Spring 2006): Histone H3 functions in the repair of UV induced DNA damage though the nucleotide excision repair and post-replication repair pathways in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Katie McHugh* (Summer 2004-Spring 2005): The histone H3 telomeric silencing domain cooperatively functions with transcriptional silencing protein Sir3 to play a distinct role in the repair of DNA damage caused by methylmethane sulfonate.

Karen Siklosi* (Summer 2005-Fall 2005): Point mutations in the human CFTR promoter reveal potential transcriptional regulatory elements that may contribute to clinical phenotypes observed in Cystic Fibrosis. (research done at Case Western Reserve University)

Leigh Stone* (Summer 2004-Spring 2005): Post-translational modifications of histones H3 and H4 are important in UV-mediated DNA damage repair in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

*senior honors student

Fellowships and Honors

Denison University Research Foundation Grant, 2006-2007
Faculty Award for the Innovative Use of Technology in the Classroom, Georgian Court College, 2001
Faculty Summer Research Grant, Georgian Court College, 2001
NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Oncology Center, 1997-1998
NRSA Cell and Molecular Biology Training Grant Award, UCLA Molecular Biology Institute, 1992-1994
UCLA Chancellor's Fellowship, 1991-1992
Senior Fellow, Department of Biology, Kalamazoo College, 1988
Diebold Scholar, Kalamazoo College, 1987-1988
Heyl Scholarship, Kalamazoo College, 1984-1988

Memberships

Denison Committees

Campus Affairs Council (since 2007)
Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees, Enrollment Committee (2005-2007)

National Organizations

Phi Beta Kappa, President of Theta of Ohio Chapter (since 2007; member since 1988)
Sigma Xi, Denison Chapter Treasurer (since 2007)
Genetics Society of America, member (since 1998)
Beta Beta Beta Biology Honor Society, member (since 1999)

Publications

Bostelman LJ*, Keller AM*, Albrecht AM*, Arat A*, and JS Thompson, 200. Methylation of histone H3 lysine-79 by Dot1p plays multiple roles in the response to UV damage in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. DNA Repair. v. 6 no. p. 383-395 [view site]

Smith PH and JS Thompson, 200. Has polyploidy shaped the evolution of the eukaryotic genome? A re-examination of Ohno's genome duplication hypothesis . Bios. v. 74 no. p. 110-117 [view site]

Thompson JS, Snow ML, Giles S*, McPherson LE*, and M Grunstein, 2003. Identification of a functional domain within the essential core of histone H3 that is required for telomeric and HM silencing in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genetics . v. 163 no. p. 447-452 [view site]

Cost GJ, Thompson JS, Reichard B-A, Lee J-Y, and AP Feinberg, 199. Lack of imprinting of three human cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor genes . Cancer Res. . v. 57 no. p. 926-929 [view site]

Thompson JS, Reese KJ, DeBaun MR, Perlman EJ, and AP Feinberg, 199. Reduced expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor gene p57KIP2 in Wilms Tumor . Cancer Res. . v. 56 no. p. 5723-5727 [view site]

Matsuoka S, Thompson JS, Edwards MC, Barletta JM, Grundy P, Kalikin LM, Harper JW, Elledge SJ, and AP Feinberg, 1996. Imprinting of the gene encoding a human cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, p57KIP2, on chromosome 11p15 . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. v. 93 no. p. 3026-3030 [view site]

Feinberg AP, Kalikin LM, Johnson LA, and JS Thompson , 1994. Loss of imprinting in human cancer. Cold Spring Harbor Symp. Quant. Biol. . v. 59 no. p. 357-364

Thompson JS, Ling X, and M Grunstein, 199. Histone H3 N terminus is required for telomeric and silent mating locus repression in yeast. . Nature . v. 369 no. p. 245-247 [view site]

Thompson JS, Johnson LM, and M Grunstein, 199. Specific repression of the yeast silent mating locus HMR by an adjacent telomere. Mol. Cell. Biol. . v. 14 no. p. 446-455 [view site]

Thompson JS, Hecht A, and M Grunstein , 1993. Histones and the regulation of heterochromatin in yeast. . Cold Spring Harbor Symp. Quant. Biol. . v. 58 no. p. 247-256

Presentations

Albrecht AM*, Evans ML*, Bostelman LJ*, Keller AM*, and JS Thompson , 2007 . Histone H3 plays multiple methylation-dependent and independent roles in the response to UV damage in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (platform presentation) . The 9th Annual Midwest DNA Repair Symposium.

Evans ML* and JS Thompson , 2007. Acetylation states of lysine residues in the histone H4 N-terminus have a combinatorial effect on UV-induced DNA damage repair in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (poster) . The 9th Annual Midwest DNA Repair Symposium .

Thompson JS, Bostelman LJ*, Keller AM*, and A Arat*, 2006. Histone H3 plays diverse roles in post-replication repair and nucleotide excision repair of UV-damaged DNA (poster). Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology Meeting.

Bostelman LJ* and JS Thompson, 2005 . The histone H3 silencing domain participates in Rad6/Rad18-dependent post-replication repair of UV-induced DNA damage (platform presentation). The 7th Annual Midwest DNA Repair Symposium.

Bostelman LJ* and JS Thompson, 200. A domain in histone H3 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae plays dual roles in gene silencing and repair of UV-damaged DNA via the Rad6-Rad18 repair pathway . The 9th Annual Council on Undergraduate Research "Posters on the Hill" Event.

Thompson JS, 2004. Analysis of the role of glutamate-73 in histone H3 in the function of a nucleosomal surface silencing domain in yeast (poster). Cold Spring Harbor 69th Annual Symposium on Epigenetics.

Thompson JS, McGough A*, and M Grunstein, 2000. The role of histone H3 in heterochromatin-mediated transcriptional silencing in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (poster). Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology Meeting.