Rafael Daniel Camerini-Otero, M.D., Ph.D. : NIDDK

Rafael Daniel Camerini-Otero, M.D., Ph.D.


GBB
GENETICS & BIOCHEMISTRY BRANCH
NIDDK, National Institutes of Health
Building 5, Room 205A
5 Memorial Dr.
Bethesda, MD 20892-0538
Tel: 301-496-2710
Fax: 301-496-9878
Email: rc10d@nih.gov

Education / Previous Training and Experience:
B.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1966
M.D., Ph.D., New York University, 1973


Research Statement:
My laboratory is interested in the biochemistry and molecular biology of homologous recombination in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. The focus had been on the first homology-dependent step in homologous recombination, the homologous pairing of DNAs. We have been studying the underlying biochemical mechanism for its own sake, to understand the biology of genetic recombination and to devise new strategies to manipulate complex genomes in vitro and, in the future, in vivo.- Specific projects include biophysical and structural studies of some of the proteins, protein domains and DNA-protein complexes involved, new methods for gene mapping and cloning (e.g., RARE and sequence-specific ligation of DNA) and gene targeting in mammalian cells, gene rearrangements in eukaryotes, novel approaches to gene therapy (including the use of small molecules that promote gene targeting, such as miniRecAs)and, most recently, mouse meiosis and evolutionary genomics.


Selected Publications:

1. Pezza RJ, Petukhova GV, Ghirlando R, Camerini-Otero RD Molecular activities of meiosis specific proteins Hop2, Mnd1 and the Hop2-Mnd1 complex. J Biol Chem , 2006. [Full Text/Abstract]

2. Volodin AA, Voloshin ON, Camerini-Otero RD Homologous recombination and RecA protein: towards a new generation of tools for genome manipulations. Trends Biotechnol (23): 97-102, 2005. [Full Text/Abstract]

3. Khil PP, Camerini-Otero RD Molecular features and functional constraints in the evolution of the mammalian X chromosome. Crit Rev Biochem Mol Biol (40): 313-30, 2005. [Full Text/Abstract]

4. Difilippantonio S, Celeste A, Fernandez-Capetillo O, Chen HT, Reina San Martin B, Van Laethem F, Yang YP, Petukhova GV, Eckhaus M, Feigenbaum L, Manova K, Kruhlak M, Camerini-Otero RD, Sharan S, Nussenzweig M, Nussenzweig A Role of Nbs1 in the activation of the Atm kinase revealed in humanized mouse models. Nat Cell Biol (7): 675-85, 2005. [Full Text/Abstract]

5. Bellani MA, Romanienko PJ, Cairatti DA, Camerini-Otero RD SPO11 is required for sex-body formation, and Spo11 heterozygosity rescues the prophase arrest of Atm-/- spermatocytes. J Cell Sci (118): 3233-45, 2005. [Full Text/Abstract]

6. Petukhova GV, Pezza RJ, Vanevski F, Ploquin M, Masson JY, Camerini-Otero RD The Hop2 and Mnd1 proteins act in concert with Rad51 and Dmc1 in meiotic recombination. Nat Struct Mol Biol (12): 449-53, 2005. [Full Text/Abstract]

7. Khil PP, Oliver B, Camerini-Otero RD X for intersection: retrotransposition both on and off the X chromosome is more frequent. Trends Genet (21): 3-7, 2005. [Full Text/Abstract]

8. Voloshin ON, Camerini-Otero RD Synaptic complex revisited; a homologous recombinase flips and switches bases. Mol Cell (15): 846-7, 2004. [Full Text/Abstract]

9. Lusetti SL, Voloshin ON, Inman RB, Camerini-Otero RD, Cox MM The DinI protein stabilizes RecA protein filaments. J Biol Chem (279): 30037-46, 2004. [Full Text/Abstract]

10. Khil PP Smirnova NA Romanienko PJ Camerini-Otero RD The mouse X chromosome is enriched for sex-biased genes not subject to selection by meiotic sex chromosome inactivation. Nat Genet (36): 642-6, 2004. [Full Text/Abstract]

11. Voloshin ON Vanevski F Khil PP Camerini-Otero RD Characterization of the DNA damage-inducible helicase DinG from Escherichia coli. J Biol Chem (278): 28284-93, 2003. [Full Text/Abstract]

12. Petukhova GV Romanienko PJ Camerini-Otero RD The Hop2 protein has a direct role in promoting interhomolog interactions during mouse meiosis. Dev Cell (5): 927-36, 2003. [Full Text/Abstract]

13. Khil PP Camerini-Otero RD Over 1000 genes are involved in the DNA damage response of Escherichia coli. Mol Microbiol (44): 89-105, 2002. [Full Text/Abstract]

14. Voloshin ON Ramirez BE Bax A Camerini-Otero RD A model for the abrogation of the SOS response by an SOS protein: a negatively charged helix in DinI mimics DNA in its interaction with RecA. Genes Dev (15): 415-27, 2001. [Full Text/Abstract]

15. Malkov VA Panyutin IG Neumann RD Zhurkin VB Camerini-Otero RD Radioprobing of a RecA-three-stranded DNA complex with iodine 125: evidence for recognition of homology in the major groove of the target duplex. J Mol Biol (299): 629-40, 2000. [Full Text/Abstract]

16. Romanienko PJ Camerini-Otero RD The mouse Spo11 gene is required for meiotic chromosome synapsis. Mol Cell (6): 975-87, 2000. [Full Text/Abstract]

17. Ferrin LJ Camerini-Otero RD Sequence-specific ligation of DNA using RecA protein. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A (95): 2152-7, 1998. [Full Text/Abstract]

18. Malkov VA Sastry L Camerini-Otero RD RecA protein assisted selection reveals a low fidelity of recognition of homology in a duplex DNA by an oligonucleotide. J Mol Biol (271): 168-77, 1997. [Full Text/Abstract]

19. Voloshin ON Wang L Camerini-Otero RD Homologous DNA pairing promoted by a 20-amino acid peptide derived from RecA. Science (272): 868-72, 1996. [Full Text/Abstract]

20. Camerini-Otero RD Hsieh P Homologous recombination proteins in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Annu Rev Genet (29): 509-52, 1995. [Full Text/Abstract]

21. Ferrin LJ Camerini-Otero RD Selective cleavage of human DNA: RecA-assisted restriction endonuclease (RARE) cleavage. Science (254): 1494-7, 1991. [Full Text/Abstract]


Page last updated: December 15, 2008

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