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Katrina F. Cooper, Ph.D.

Professor

Science Center, Room 362 
856 566-2887 
Fax: 856 566-6291 
cooperka@rowan.edu

Education

University of Oxford, Great Britain
D.Phil., Biochemistry, 1993

University of Manchester, Great Britain
Hons. B.Sc., Microbiology, 1989

Research Interests

 

The long-term goal of my research is to understand how cell fate decisions are made in response to adverse environmental cues. This is important as misinterpretation of stress signals is associated with the pathophysiology of many diseases, including cancer, and neuropathies, including ALS, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s. To study this, we focus on the Cdk8 kinase module (CKM)of the Mediator complex that consists of four highly conserved proteins (cyclin C, Cdk8, Med13, and Med12). In unstressed cells, the CKM regulates a subset of stress response genes. However, my group focuses on the second, stress-induced cytoplasmic night jobs of cyclin C and Med13. Upon translocation to the cytoplasm, cyclin C promotes stress-induced mitochondrial fission and cell death and is a newly identified tumor suppressor. Cytoplasmic cyclin C also promotes cell death associated with protein aggregate neuropathies, including ALS, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s. Currently, my group focuses on analyzing cyclin C's role in these neuropathies.

The second focus of my group is studying how homeostasis is maintained following nutritional stress. Here, we focus on the formation of conserved protein aggregates called P-bodies and the relationship between P-body disassembly and autophagy. To this end, we discovered that the night job of Med13 is to direct a subset of translation factors into P-bodies, where a new autophagy mechanism (discovered by my group) consequently destroys them. These studies are important as misregulation of P-body assembly and disassembly is linked with many degenerative proteinopathies.

 

To study this in the laboratory, we use a combination of yeast and mammalian model systems. Students in my group use yeast to identify and dissect molecular pathways. In collaboration with Dr. Randy Strich (Molecular Biology), students test the conservation of their discoveries in mammalian cells.

 

Selected Publications - (see PubMed for a complete list) - Student contributors are underlined.

  1. Cooper K.F. (2025). Cargo hitchhiking autophagy - a hybrid autophagy pathway utilized in yeast. Autophagy PMID: 39757721
  2. Friedson B., Willis SD, Shcherbik N, Campbell AN,Cooper KF. (2025)  The CDK8 kinase module: A novel player in the transcription initiation and ribosomal genes. Mole Bio Cell  PMID: 39565680
  3. Hanley SE, Willis SD, Friedson B, Cooper K.F. (2024) Med13 is required for efficient P-body recruitment and autophagic degradation of Edc3 Following nitrogen starvation. Mole Bio Cell PMID:  39320938
  4. Hanley, S.E., Willis, S. D., Doyles SJ., Strich R and Cooper, K. F. (2024) Ksp1 is an autophagic receptor protein for the Snx4-assisted autophagy of Ssn2/Med13. Autophagy PMID: 37733395
  5.  Willis, S. D., Hanley, S.E., Doyles SJ., Strich R and Cooper, K. F. (2022). Cyclin C-Cdk8 Kinase Phosphorylation of Rim15 Prevents the Aberrant Activation of Stress Response Genes. Front Cell Dev Biol. PMID: 35433688
  6. Hanley, S.E., Willis, S. D., and Cooper, K. F. (2021). Snx4-assisted vacuolar targeting of transcription factors defines a new autophagy pathway for controlling ATG Autophagy PMID: 33678121. 
  7. Willis, S. D., Hanley, S.E., Beishke, T., Tati, P and Cooper, K. F. (2021). Ubiquitin-proteasome-mediated cyclin C degradation promotes cell survival following nitrogen starvation. Mol Biol Cell. PMID: 32160104 
  8. Ganesan V Willis, S. D., Chang KT, Beluch S,Cooper KF, Strich R. (2019). Cyclin C directly stimulates Drp1 GTP affinity to mediate stress-induced mitochondrial hyperfission. Mol Biol Cell. PMID: 30516433 
  9. Stieg D.C, Willis S.D, Ganesan V, Ong K.L, Scuorzo J, Song M, Grose J, Strich R, Cooper, K.F.(2018). A complex molecular switch directs stress-induced cyclin C nuclear release through SCFGrr1-mediated degradation of Med13. Mol Biol Cell. PMID:29212878
  10. Wang K, Yan R, Cooper, K.F., Strich R. (2015) Cyclin C mediates stress-induced mitochondrial fission and apoptosis.Mol Biol Cell. PMID:25609094
  11. C., Kim S., Willis. S. and Cooper, K.F.(2015). The MAPKKKs Ste11 and Bck1 jointly transduce the high oxidative stress signal through the cell wall integrity MAP kinase pathway.Microbial Cell. PMID: 27135035. Cover Issue
  12. Cooper, K.F., Khakhina, S., Kim, S. K.and Strich, R. (2014) Stress-induced nuclear-to-cytoplasmic translocation of cyclin C promotes mitochondrial fission in yeast.  Cell.  PMID: 24439911
  13. Jin, C., Strich, R. and Cooper, K.F.(2014) Slt2p phosphorylation induces cyclin C nuclear-to-cytoplasmic translocation in response to oxidative stress. Mol Biol Cell. PMID: 24554767

 

Recent Review Articles

  1. Friedson B and Cooper, K. F., (2021) Cdk8 Kinase Module: A Mediator of Life and Death Decisions in Times of Stress. PMID: 34683473 

 

  1. Hanley SE,and  Cooper K. F., (2020) Sorting Nexins in Protein Homeostasis. Cells. PMID: 33374212

 

  1. Cooper K. F., (2018) Till Death Do Us Part: The Marriage of Autophagy and Apoptosis. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity.org/10.1155/2018/4701275/

 

Complete list of published work in Pubmed:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1bUb6yLbVOKQR/bibliography/public/