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Erich Kushner, Ph.D.

IMG_4181Postdoctoral Fellow

Contact Info: ekushner [at] email.unc.edu

Education:

University of Colorado, Boulder, CO – Ph.D. in Integrative Physiology, 2010
Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO – B.S. in Molecular and Cellular Biology, 2004

Research: My research focuses on how dysregulation of cytoskeletal elements promotes blood vessel dysmorphogenesis, such as in cancer. More specifically, I examine the impact of supernumerary centrosomes on microtubule dynamics and how these perturbations effect 3D blood vessel morphogenesis.

HUVEC with extra centrosomes on a micropattern
HUVEC with extra centrosomes on a micropattern

Publications:

Kushner EJ, LS Ferro, JY Liu, JR Durrant, SL Rogers, AC Dudley, VL Bautch. Supernumerary Centrosomes Disrupt Interphase Polarity and Migration via Reduction of Microtubule Nucleating Factors. JCB, in review.

Charpentier MS, Christine KS, Amin NM, Dorr KM, Kushner EJ, Bautch VL, Taylor JM, Conlon FL. CASZ1 promotes vascular assembly and morphogenesis through the direct regulation of an EGFL7/RhoA-mediated pathway. Dev Cell. 2013 Apr 29;25(2):132-43. PMID:23639441

Kushner EJ, Bautch VL. Building blood vessels in development and disease. Curr Opin Hematol. 2013 May;20(3):231-6.Review. PMID:23567339

Diehl KJ, Weil BR, Westby CM, MacEneaney OJ, Kushner EJ, Greiner JJ, DeSouza CA. Effects of endothelin-1 on endothelial progenitor cell function. Clin Chem Lab Med. 2012 Feb 1;50(6):1121-4. PMID:22706256

Weil BR, Kushner EJ, Diehl KJ, Greiner JJ, Stauffer BL, DeSouza CA. CD31+ T cells, Endothelial Function and Cardiovascular Risk. Heart Lung Circ. 2011 Oct;20(10):659-62. Epub 2011 Jul 20.

Kushner EJ, Weil BR, MacEneaney OJ, Morgan RG, Mestek ML, Van Guilder GP, Diehl KJ, Stauffer BL, DeSouza CA. Human Aging and CD31+ T-cell Number, Migration, Apoptotic Susceptibility, and Telomere Length. J Appl Physiol. 2010 Dec;109(6):1756-61. PMCID: PMC3006402

MacEneaney OJ, DeSouza CA, Weil BR, Kushner EJ, Van Guilder GP, Mestek ML, Greiner JJ, Stauffer BL. Prehypertension and Endothelial Progenitor Cell Function. J Hum Hypertens. 2011 Jan;25(1):57-62. PMCID: PMC:2895004

MacEneaney OJ, Kushner EJ, Westby CM, Cech JN, Greiner JJ, Stauffer BL, DeSouza CA. Endothelial Progenitor Cell Function, Apoptosis, and Telomere Length in Overweight/Obese Humans. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010 Sep;18(9):1677-82. PMCID: PMC2643316

Kushner E, GL Hoetzer, OJ MacEneaney, JJ Greiner, JN Cech, BL Stauffer, CA DeSouza. Aging and Endothelial Progenitor Cell Release of Proangiogenic Cytokines. Age Ageing. 2010 Mar;39(2):268-72. PMCID: PMC2842112

Klawitter J, J Klawitter, E Kushner, KR Jonscher, J Bendrick-Peart, U Christians, V Schmitz, Association of Immunosuppressant-Induced Protein Changes in the Rat Kidney with Changes in Urine Metabolite Patterns: A Proteo-Metobonomic Study. J Proteome Res. 2010 Feb 5;9(2):865-75.

Kushner EJ, RG Morgan, AM Van Engelenburg, OJ MacEneaney, GP Van Guilder, CA DeSouza. CD31+ T Cells Represent a Functionally Distinct Vascular T Cell Phenotype. Blood Cells, Molecules and Diseases. 2010 Feb 15;44(2):74-78.

MacEneaney OJ, EJ Kushner, GP Van Guilder, JJ Greiner, BL Stauffer, CA DeSouza. Endothelial Progenitor Cell Number and Colony-Forming Capacity in Overweight and Obese Adults. International Journal of Obesity. Feb 2009;33(2):219-225. PMC2643316

Kushner EJ, GP Van Guilder, OJ MacEneaney, JN Cech, AJ Zaug, BL Stauffer, CA DeSouza. Aging and Endothelial Progenitor Cell Telomere Length in Healthy Men. Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine. Jan 2009;47(1):47-50. P MCID: PMC2646422

Stauffer BL, OJ MacEneaney, EJ Kushner, JN Cech, JJ Greiner, CM Westby, CA DeSouza. Gender and Endothelial Progenitor Cell Number in Middle-Aged Adults. Artery Research. Nov 2008;2(4):156-160. PMCID: PMC2636711

Stauffer BL, R Sobus, EJ Kushner, CM Westby T Wulfman, T Zeller. Feasibility of Molecular Analysis of Percutaneously Collected Peripheral Atheroma. Excerpta Medica Inc-Elsevier Science Inc, 2007; 83L-83L.