Department of Chemistry

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!

To learn more, visit my research group website.

Courses

• CHEM 351, 451, 452 & 453 (Biochemistry)
• CHEM 111 (The Chemistry of Us)
• CHEM 122 (General Chemistry Lab)

Publications and Presentations

• Emily C. Marron, Jonathan Backues, Andrew M. Ross and Steven K. Backues (2024) Accurate automated segmentation of autophagic bodies in yeast vacuoles using cellpose 2.0  Autophagy https://doi.org/10.1080/15548627.2024.2353458
• Mitchell D. Meyer, Jasmine Winzeler, Sophia M. Taylor, Alex Kilgore, Kimberly Edicha, Chase Chitwood, Zachary Spearin, S. K. Nadia Rahman Silvia, Ronith Chakraborty, Jesse E. Smith, Bridget Kennedy, Carson Zois, Hayley Cawthon, Mukiri Gilruth and Steven K. Backues (2022) Mapping Critical Residues in ATG11’s Coiled-Coil 2 Domain that Block Multiple Interactions and Disrupt Selective Autophagy Front. Cell Dev. Biol. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2021.775364
• Hayley Cawthon, Ronith Chakraborty, Jacquelyn R. Roberts, and Steven K. Backues(2018) Control of autophagosome size and number by Atg7. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 503:651-656.
• Yuchen Feng, Steven K. Backues, Misuzu Baba, Jin-Mi Heo, J. Wade Harper, and Daniel J. Klionsky. Phosphorylation of Atg9 regulates movement to the phagophore assembly site and the rate of autophagosome formation. (2016) Autophagy 12:648-58.  
• Steven K. Backues, Daniel P. Orban, Amélie Bernard, Kushal Singh*, Yang Cao and Daniel J. Klionsky (2015) Atg23 and Atg27 Act at the Early Stages of Atg9 Trafficking in S. cerevisiae. Traffic 16:172-190
• 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

Grants, Honors and Awards

• William Fennel Symposium Faculty Mentor Award (2017)
• NSF RUI grant “Scaffold or Assembly Line: How Does Atg11 Organize its Binding Partners for the Initiation of Selective Autophagy?” (2016-2019) 
• NSF RUI Grant #2243163 "Tools and Approaches for Investigating the Basic Mechanisms of Autophagy"  (2023-2026)

Additional Information

To learn more, visit my research group website.