Steven Sandler

Professor

Our experimental approach is to make mutations in genes that code for DNA replication and or recombination to test models about how these interactions might occur. Our assays include standard molecular techniques and fluorescence microscopy of living cells.

Current Research
Research in the Sandler lab revolves around understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in replication fork collapse, the repair of these collapsed forks and restarting the forks after repair. This involves understanding the interactions between the DNA replication and recombination protein complexes at the molecular level. These mechanisms are important to understand because they underlie the causes and treatments of cancer and the ability of bacteria to develop resistance to antibiotics. Thus, this work has been funded by the American Cancer Society in the past and is currently funded by the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases.

Learn more at www.micro.umass.edu/faculty-and-research/steven-sandler

Academic Background

PhD Molecular Biology, University of California, Berkeley
Postdoctoral Training University of California Berkeley
Postdoctoral Training Advanced Genetic Sciences, Oakland, CA

Selected Publications

Anastasiia Klimova and Steven J. Sandler (2020) Mutational analysis of residues in PriA and PriC affecting their ability to interact with SSB in Escherichia coli K-12. Journal of Bacteriology (in press).

Christine Wolak, Hui Jun Ma, Nicolas Soubry, Steven J. Sandler, Rodrigo Reyes-Lamothe, and James L. Keck (2020) Interaction with single-stranded DNA-binding protein localizes ribonuclease HI to DNA replication forks and facilitates R-loop removal. Molecular Microbiology (in press).

Tricia A. Windgassen, Maxime Leroux, Steven J. Sandler and James L. Keck (2019) Function of a strand-separation pin element in the PriA DNA replication restart helicase. Journal of Biological Chemistry 294:2801-2814. PMCID:PMC6393597.

Alyson R. Warr, Anastasiia N. Klimova, Amy N. Nwaobasi and Steven J. Sandler (2019) Protease Deficient-SOS Constitutive Cells have RecN-Dependent Cell Division Phenotypes. Molecular Microbiology 111(2):405-422. PMID 30422330 PMCID: PMC6368896.

Tricia A. Windgassen, Maxime Leroux, Kenneth A. Satyshur, Steven J. Sandler and James L. Keck (2018) Structure-specific DNA replication fork recognition directs helicase and replication restart activities of the PriA helicase . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 115(39):9075-9084. PMCID: 6166810. PMID#30201718.

Jennifer M. Hayashi, Kirill Richardson, Emily S. Melzer, Steven J. Sandler, Bree B. Aldridge, M. Sloan Siegrist and Yasu S. Morita (2018) Stress-Induced Reorganization of Mycobacterial Membrane Domain. mBio 9(1) e01823-17 (PMCID:PMC5784251).

Maxime Leroux, Niketa Jani and Steven J. Sandler (2017) A priA mutant expressed in two pieces has almost full activity in E. coli K-12. Journal of Bacteriology 199(17): e00267-17 (PMCID: PMC5553027).

Bénédicte Michel and Steven J. Sandler (2017) Replication Restart in Bacteria. Journal of Bacteriology 199(13): e00102-17 (PMCID: PMC5472809).

Steven Sandler

Institute for Applied Life Sciences