Scott Emr

Samuel C. and Nancy M. Fleming Professor, Molecular Biology and Genetics, Molecular Biology and Genetics

Scott D. Emr is the Samuel C. and Nancy M. Fleming Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics and a member of the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology (Weill Institute). He received his Ph.D. degree in Molecular Genetics from Harvard Medical School in 1981. Prior to joining the faculty at Cornell, he has held positions at the California Institute of Technology (Assistant and Associate Professor; 1983-1991) and the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine (Distinguished Professor and Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; 1991-2007).

Publications

Zhu, L., R. Sardana, D. K. Jin, S. D. Emr. 2020. “Calcineurin dependent regulation of endocytosis by a plasma membrane ubiquitin ligase adaptor Rcr1.” J Cell Biol. 219(8):e201909158. doi: 10.1083/jcb.201909158
Sardana, R., S. D. Emr. 2021. “Membrane Protein Quality Control Mechanisms in the Endo-Lysosome System.” Trends in Cell Biology. doi: 10.1016/j.tcb.2020.11.011
Banjade, S., Y. H. Shah , S. Tang, S. D. Emr. 2021. “Design principles of ESCRT-III Vps24-Vps2 module.” eLife. doi: 10.7554/eLife.67709
Suzuki, S.W., Oishi, A., Nikulin, N., Jorgensen, J.R., Baile, M.G., S. D. Emr. 2021. “A PX-BAR protein Mvp1/SNX8 and a dynamin-like GTPase Vps1 drive endosomal recycling.” eLife. doi: 10.7554/eLife.69883
Sardana, R., Highland, C., Straight, B., Chavez, C., Fromme, J.C., S. D. Emr. 2021. “Golgi membrane protein Erd1 is essential for recycling a subset of Golgi glycosyltransferases.” eLife. doi: 10.7554/eLife.70774
*Zhu L., Q. Zhang, C.D. Cordeiro, S. Banjade, R. Sardana , Y. Mao, S.D. Emr. 2022. Adaptor linked K63 di-ubiquitin activates Nedd4/Rsp5 E3 ligase. eLife. doi: 10.7554/eLife.77424
Banjade S., L. Zhu, J.R. Jorgensen, S.W. Suzuki, S.D. Emr. 2022. Recruitment and organization of ESCRT-0 and ubiquitinated cargo via condensation. Sci Adv. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abm5149

Recent Research

The Emr lab studies the regulation of cell signaling pathways by phosphoinositide kinases, vesicle-mediated transport reactions, and selective ubiquitin modifications. Research in the lab focuses on three main topics: (1) the genetics of endocytic trafficking and receptor down-regulation (mediated by the ART and ESCRT machinery); (2) genetic and biochemical analysis of phosphoinositide lipid- and ubiquitin-dependent membrane sorting and signaling pathways and (3) defining the pathways for maintaining the composition and quality of membrane proteins both at the plasma membrane and the lysosomal membrane (nutrient transporters, channels, receptors, etc.).

The endo-lysosome Protein Quality Control (PQC) pathway monitors membrane proteins at multiple, sequential endocytic organelles to prevent their accumulation of damaged or mistargeted proteins. The Emr lab is interested in discovering and understanding the roles for all the components in protein quality control in the endocytic pathway, how their functions and localization is regulated, and which cargos are targeted for degradation in response to specific cues. The Emr lab identified and characterized a family of arrestin-related trafficking adaptors,

or ARTs, which recruit the Rsp5 ubiquitin ligase to specific targets at theplasma membrane. They also discovered the ESCRT (Endosomal Sorting Complexes Required for Transport) complexes as essential components of the endocytic sorting pathway. The ESCRT complexes play critical roles in the down-regulation and degradation of plasma membrane receptors and transporters. ESCRTs also are essential for the budding of many retroviruses including HIV, the abscission event during cytokinesis, reformation of the nuclear membrane following mitosis, and the repair of plasma membrane damage.

Awards & Honors

2022 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
2021 The Shaw Prize in Life Science & Medicine “for the landmark discovery of the ESCRT (Endosomal Sorting Complex Required for Transport) pathway, which is essential in diverse processes involving membrane biology, including cell division, cell-surface receptor regulation, viral dissemination, and nerve axon pruning. These processes are central to life, health, and disease.”; The Shaw Prize Foundation, Hong Kong
2017 Keith R. Porter Award “in recognition of outstanding contributions to cell biology”; American Society for Cell Biology
2017 Elected Lifetime Fellow - American Society for Cell Biology 2017 American Society for Cell Biology
2014 Awarded the van Deenan Medal “in recognition of his outstanding career in biomembrane research that includes discoveries of the role for polyphosphoinoside lipids (PIPs) in membrane trafficking and the role for the ESCRT machinery in receptor down-regulation”; University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
2008 Elected Foreign Member; European Molecular Biology Organization
2007 Elected Member; National Academy of Sciences
2007 Avanti Award for “key contributions in lipid signaling research”; American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
2004 Elected Member; American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2003 Awarded the Hansen Foundation Gold Medal Prize for "central role in elucidating the intracellular sorting and transport of proteins"; University of Copenhagen, Denmark