Anne McBride

Associate Professor of Biology and Biochemistry;  Director of Biochemistry Program

Phone 798-7109
Title Associate Professor
Department Biology
2nd Title Associate Professor
2nd Department BIOCHEMISTRY
3rd Title Program Director
3rd Department BIOCHEMISTRY
Work Location 230B Druckenmiller Hall
E-Mail amcbride@bowdoin.edu
Anne McBride

 

Research

Research summary

The addition of different chemical groups to amino acids within proteins can influence how proteins function in an organism. Protein arginine methyltransferases are a family of eukaryotic enzymes that catalyze one of the smallest protein modifications, the addition of one or two methyl groups to the amino acid arginine. Arginine methylation of proteins affects many important cellular processes including gene expression, intracellular transport and signaling. The goal of research in the McBride lab is to understand different roles of this ubiquitous modification, using yeast as a model system.

By studying baker's yeast, we have been able to take advantage of many biochemical, genetic, genomic and cell biological tools to understand how arginine methylation affects protein transport between the nucleus and the cytoplasm of this single-celled eukaryote. We have now expanded these studies to the related yeast Candida albicans in the hopes of gaining insight into how arginine methylation affects protein function in this pathogenic yeast.

Click here or on names below for more details about our research

Recent publications

McBride AE, Conboy AK*, Brown SP*, Ariyachet C*, Rutledge KL. (2009) "Specific sequences within arginine-glycine-rich domains affect mRNA-binding protein function." Nucleic Acids Res. Epub ahead of print. Click here for full text and link to pdf.

McBride, AE, Zurita-Lopez, C, Regis, A, Blum, E, Conboy, A*, Elf, S* and Clarke, S (2007) “Protein arginine methylation in Candida albicans: Role in nuclear transport” Eukaryot Cell. 6(7): 1119-29. Click here for abstract and links to pdf or full text.

McBride, AE (2006) "Diverse roles of protein arginine methyltransferases” in “Protein Methyltransferases" The Enzymes Vol. XXIV, ed. S. Clarke and F. Tamanoi, Academic Press, pp. 51-103.

McBride AE, Cook JT*, Stemmler EA, Rutledge KL, McGrath KA* and Rubens JA* (2005) "Arginine methylation of yeast mRNA-binding protein Npl3 directly affects its function, nuclear export, and intranuclear protein interactions" J Biol Chem 280(35):30888-98.
Click here for abstract and links to pdf or full text.

Yu MC, Bachand F, McBride AE, Komili S, Casolari JM and Silver PA (2004) "Arginine methyltransferase affects interactions and recruitment of mRNA processing and export factors. Genes Dev 18(16):2024-35.
Click here for abstract and links to pdf or full text.

*Bowdoin students

Student research

2008-2010

Tee Ariyachet

Posttranslational modification of a novel arginine/glycine rich protein in Candida albicans
(Spring 2009-Spring 2010)

Chris Carlin

Investigation of a putative arginine demethylase in the opportunistic commensal Candida albicans 
(Summer 2008-Spring 2009)

Hayley McHugh

Candida albicans Orf19.216 protein and its relationship with fluconazole resistance 
(Summer 2008-Spring 2009)

Yasmine White

Identification of putative arginine methyltransferases in S. cerevisiae and associated phenotypes
(Spring 2009)

2006-2008

Tee Ariyachet

Analysis of exoribonuclease Kem1 localization in Candida albicans
(Summer 2007)

Testing the function of the putative docking motif in the localization of Npl3 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
(Spring 2008)

Exploring the function of hydrophobic residues in the arginine-glycine-rich (RG) domain of the RNA-binding protein Npl3
(Summer 2008) 

Lincoln Pac

Exploring the role of delta-nitrogen arginine methylation in yeast translation
(Fall 2007-Spring 2008)

Anthony Regis

Exploring the RNA-binding protein Npl3 and exoribonuclease Kem1: Intracellular localization and arginine methylation in Candida albicans
(Summer 2006-Spring 2007)

Alex Wilkinson

Identification of a methylated protein in Candida albicans
(Summer 2006, Summer 2007-Spring 2008)

2004-2006

Charlie Johnson

Insertion of an HA tag in HRP1 and THP2: investigation of protein-protein interactions.
(Fall 2005)

Kelly McGrath

Mutational analysis of an arginine-rich RNA-binding protein
(Summer 2004)
Effects of Arginine Methylation on Intranuclear Protein Interactions of RNA-Binding Proteins
(Fall 2005-Spring 2006)

Hilarie Wilson

Mapping sites of protein methylation by immunoblot analysis
(Summer 2004)

2002-2004

Emily Blum

Phenotypic analysis of an arginine methyltransferase (HMT1) deletion in Candida albicans
(Spring 2003-Spring 2004)

Shanique Brown

Investigating the effects of domain deletions on the multimerization of Npl3p in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
(Fall 2003-Spring 2004)

Jeff Cook

Arginine methylation of an RNA-binding protein
(Summer 2002, Spring 2003-Spring 2004)

Ana Conboy

Testing function of arginine-rich domains in baker's yeast
(Summer 2003)

Jeffrey Rubens

Genetic studies of the relationship between arginine methylation and RNA-binding protein function in yeast
(Fall 2002-Spring 2003)

Caroline Agusti

Analysis of the importance of protein arginine methylation in a fungal pathogen
(Fall 2002)

Shannon Elf

Arginine methyltransferase function in Candida albicans
(Summer 2002)

2001-2002

Michael Leibowitz

Analysis of interactions between an arginine methyltransferase and glycogen synthase kinase-3 family members in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
(Fall 2001-Spring 2002)

Tessie Ng

Structural and functional comparison of nuclear transport factors in yeast
(Fall 2001-Spring 2002)

Kathryn Penney

Genetic analysis of the role of Rmt2, a novel arginine methyltransferase, in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
(Fall 2001-Spring 2002)

a protein containing rmt2

Useful resources on the www

Bowdoin sites

Biology Honors Requirements

Candida albicans sites

Candida DB (Pasteur Institute)

Candida genome database (Stanford University)

Berman laboratory website (University of Minnesota)

Institute for Candida Experimentation (ICE, University of Minnesota)

Early Stanford Candida albicans genome webpage

Saccharomyces cerevisiae sites

Saccharomyces Genome Database

General tools for molecular biology

National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the National LIbrary of Medicine (National Insititutes of Health) homepage

Literature search engine

PubMed (NCBI)

Sequence analysis tools

Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) site (NCBI)

Baylor College of Medicine Search Launcher

ExPASy (Expert protein analysis system) Molecular Biology Server

MS-Digest at ProteinProspector (UCSF Mass Spectrometry site)

ProteinProspector homepage (UCSF Mass Spectrometry site)

"Vaccination and the Fight against Infectious Disease"
Slides from a talk to the Association of Bowdoin Friends on Thursday, February 6, 2003.

Boulder beauty