Research Interests The regulation of apical membrane traffic in polarized epithelial cells; the mechanisms by which proteins are selected for apical delivery, incorporated into vesicular carriers, and targeted to the appropriate membrane. Dr. Weisz’s laboratory studies are directed towards identifying cytoplasmic proteins that facilitate the formation and budding of apically-destined transport carriers, and determining whether different classes of apical proteins utilize common sorting and transport machineries to reach the cell surface. Polarized epithelial cells have the remarkable capacity to generate and maintain differentiated apical and basolateral plasma membrane domains with distinct protein and lipid compositions. This is accomplished in part by the vectorial delivery of newly synthesized membrane proteins to these domains. In cells of renal origin, these proteins traffic together through the Golgi, and emerge from the trans-Golgi network (TGN) in distinct populations of carriers. Using the combined approaches of in vitro reconstitution assays with live-cell imaging, Dr. Weisz hopes to generate a more comprehensive view of how apical protein export from the TGN is regulated.   Selected Publications Weixel KM, Edinger RS, Kester L, Guerriero CJ, Wang H, Fang L, Kleyman TR, Welling PA, Weisz OA, Johnson JP. Phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 5-kinase reduces cell surface expression of the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) in cultured collecting duct cells. J Biol Chem. 2007 Dec 14;282(50):36534-42. Epub 2007 Oct 16. Oztan A, Silvis M, Weisz OA, Bradbury NA, Hsu SC, Goldenring JR, Yeaman C, Apodaca G. Exocyst Requirement for Endocytic Traffic Directed Toward the Apical and Basolateral Poles of Polarized MDCK Cells. Mol Biol Cell. 2007 Oct;18(10):3978-92. Jin J, Sturgeon T, Chen C, Watkins SC, Weisz OA, Montelaro RC. Distinct intracellular trafficking of EIAV and HIV-1 gag during viral assembly and budding revealed by bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays. J Virol. 2007 Oct;81(20):11226-35. Cresawn KO, Potter BA, Oztan A, Guerriero CJ, Ihrke G, Goldenring JR, Apodaca G, Weisz OA. Differential involvement of endocytic compartments in the biosynthetic traffic of apical proteins. EMBO J. 2007 Aug 22;26(16):3737-48. Chen C, Jin J, Rubin M, Huang L, Sturgeon T, Weixel KM, Stolz DB, Watkins SC, Bamburg JR, Weisz OA, Montelaro RC. Association of gag multimers with filamentous actin during equine infectious anemia virus assembly. Curr HIV Res. 2007 May;5(3):315-23. Complete Publication Listing   Grant Support NIH 1R01DK064613 Regulation of polarized traffic by PI-metabolizing enzymes. Principal Investigator Commonwealth of PA Polarized membrane traffic in kidney cells. Principal Investigator NIH 5R01 DK057718 Trafficking and regulation of the epithelial Na+ channel. Co-Investigator   Other Links Personal web site Dept. of Medicine-Renal Electrolyte Division University of Pittsburgh

Ora A. Weisz, Ph.D., Associate Professor Office:  978.1 Scaife Hall Lab:978 Scaife Hall Phone:412-383-8891 Fax: 412-383-8956 weisz@pitt.edu   Academic Affiliations Department of Medicine (Renal-Electrolyte Division) Cell Biology and Physiology Department University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine (affiliate member)   Education 1984 B.S. Mol. Biophys. Biochem History Yale University New Haven, CT 1990 Ph.D. Biochem., Cell and Mol. Biology Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Baltimore, MD 1990-1995 Postdoctoral Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Baltimore, MD   Lab Personnel Postdoctoral Fellow: Polly Mattila, Ph.D. Research Specialist: Jennifer Bruns Graduate Students: Shanshan Cui, Chris J. Guerriero, Mark Miedel, Di Mo