Education

• BA, Gustavus Adolphus College, Chemistry and Biochemistry
• Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison, Biochemistry
• Postdoc, University of Michigan

Interests and Expertise

My general area of interest is membrane trafficking, and how proteins control the shape and dynamics of cellular membranes. I am currently studying the membrane trafficking involved in the process of autophagy in yeast. Autophagy ("self-eating") is a both a means of surviving starvation and a method of disposing of damaged or unwanted cytoplasmic constituents by wrapping them up in a double-membraned autophagosome and sending them to the vacuole to be degraded. It is conserved through eukaryotes, and in humans helps to protect against neurodegeneration and other diseases of aging. I am using yeast genetics and in vitro binding studies to examine the molecular details of how the autophagosome is formed. I am looking for both undergraduates (especially freshman and sophomore level) and master's students to participate with me in this exciting research!

Courses

• CHEM 451 and 453 Biochemistry
• CHEM 122 General Chemistry Lab

Publications and Presentations

• Meiyan Jin, Ding He, Steven K. Backues Mallory A. Freeburg, Xu Liu, John K. Kim, and Daniel J. Klionsky (2014)
  Transcriptional regulation by Pho23 modulates the frequency of autophagosome formation
  Current Biology 24:1314–1322
• Steven K. Backues, Dachua Chen, Jishou Ruan, Zhiping Xie, and Daniel J. Klionsky (2014)
  Estimating the size and number of autophagic bodies by electron microscopy [PDF]
  Autophagy 10:155–64
• Steven K. Backues and Daniel J. Klionsky (2012)
  Atg11: A Rab-dependent, coiled-coil membrane protein that acts as a tether for autophagy. [PDF] Autophagy 8:1275–8
• Steven K. Backues, David A. Korasic, Antje Heese and Sebastian Y. Bednarek. (2010)
  The Arabidopsis Dynamin-Related Protein 2 (DRP2) family is essential for gametophytic development. [PDF]
  Plant Cell 22:3218–31
• Steven K. Backues and Sebastian Y. Bednarek. (2010).
  Arabidopsis Dynamin-Related Protein 1A polymers bind, but do not tubulate, liposomes. [PDF]
  Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 393:734–39

Additional Information

Visit my EMU people site.