Morgan DeSantis graduated from the College of Wooster with a BA in Biochemistry/Molecular Biology (2005). After three years at the NCI, Morgan joined the BMB graduate program at Penn. Morgan was a CBI Fellow (2009-2012). In 2012, Morgan was awarded a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). In 2013, Morgan won the P. Leslie Dutton Award for Outstanding Publication by a BMB student. Morgan defended her Ph.D. thesis: 'Defining the mechanism of Hsp104-mediated protein disaggregation' in July, 2013. Morgan went on to pursure her post-doctoral studies with Sam Reck-Peterson at Harvard Medical School and UCSD.
Publications
Guo, L.*, H.J. Kim*, H. Wang*, J. Monaghan°, F. Freyermuth°, J.C. Sung°, K. O’Donovan, C.M. Fare, Z. Diaz, N. Singh, Z.C. Zhang, M. Coughlin, E.A. Sweeny, M.E. DeSantis, M.E. Jackrel, C.B. Rodell, J.A. Burdick, O.D. King, A.D. Gitler, C. Lagier-Tourenne, U.B. Pandey, Y.M. Chook, J.P. Taylor, and J. Shorter. (2018). Nuclear-import receptors reverse aberrant phase transitions of RNA-binding proteins with prion-like domains. Cell. 173(3):677-692. pdf file link (*Co-first author. °Co-second author).
Sweeny, E.A., M.E. Jackrel, M.S. Go, M.A. Sochor, B.M. Razzo, M.E. DeSantis, K. Gupta, and J. Shorter. (2015). The Hsp104 N-terminal domain enables disaggregase plasticity and potentiation. Mol. Cell. 57(5):836-849. pdf file link
Jackrel, M.E., M.E. DeSantis, B.A. Martinez, L.M. Castellano, R.M. Stewart, K.A. Caldwell, G.A. Caldwell, and J. Shorter. (2014). Potentiated Hsp104 variants antagonize diverse proteotoxic misfolding events. Cell. 156:170–182. pdf file link
DeSantis, M.E., E.A. Sweeny, D. Snead, E.H. Leung, M.S. Go, K. Gupta, P. Wendler, and J. Shorter. (2014). Conserved distal loop residues in the Hsp104 and ClpB middle domain contact nucleotide-binding domain 2 and enable Hsp70-dependent protein disaggregation. J. Biol. Chem. 289(2):848-867. pdf file link
Coelho, M., A. Dereli, A. Haese, S. Kühn, L. Malinovska, M.E. DeSantis, J. Shorter, S. Alberti, T. Gross, and I.M. Tolić-Nørrelykke. (2013). Fission yeast does not age under favorable conditions, but does so after stress. Curr. Biol. 23(19):1844-1852. pdf file link
DeSantis, M.E., and J. Shorter. (2012). Hsp104 Drives ''Protein-Only'' Positive Selection of Sup35 Prion Strains Encoding Strong [PSI+]. Chemistry & Biology. 19:1400-1410. pdf file link
DeSantis, M.E., E.H. Leung, E.A. Sweeny, M.E. Jackrel, M. Cushman-Nick, A. Neuhaus-Follini, S. Vashist, M.A. Sochor, M.N. Knight, and J. Shorter. (2012). Operational Plasticity Enables Hsp104 to Disaggregate Diverse Amyloid and Nonamyloid Clients. Cell. 151:778-793. pdf file link
Acchione, M., Y.C. Lee, M.E. DeSantis, C.A. Lipschultz, A. Wlodawer, M. Li, A. Shanmuganathan, R.L.Walter, S.J. Smith-Gill, and J.J. Barchi. (2012). Specific Fluorine Labeling of HyHEL-10 Antibody Affects Antigen Binding and Dynamics. Biochemistry. 51 (30): 6017–6027. pdf file link
DeSantis, M.E. and J. Shorter. (2012). The elusive middle domain of Hsp104 and ClpB: location and function. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta.1823(1): 29-39. pdf file link
Sweeny, E.A., M.E. DeSantis and J. Shorter. (2011). Purification of Hsp104, a protein disaggregase. J. Vis. Exp.(55), e3190, DOI: 10.3791/3190 pdf file link
DeSantis M.E.^ and Dersh D. (2010). Preventing Parkinson's pathology. Dis. Model Mech. 3: 399-400. pdf file link (^Co-corresponding author)
Mohan S., Kourentzi K., Schick K.A., Uehara C., Lipschultz C.A, Acchione M., DeSantis M.E., Smith-Gill S.J. and Willson R.C. (2009). Association Energetics of Cross-Reactive and Specific Antibodies. Biochemistry. 48 (6): 1390–1398 pdf file link
Acchione M., Lipschultza C.A., DeSantis M.E., Shanmuganathana A., Lib M., Wlodawerb A., Tarasovd S. and Smith-Gill S.J. (2009). Light chain somatic mutations change thermodynamics of binding and water coordination in the HyHEL-10 family of antibodies. Mol. Immunol. 47 (2-3):457-464 pdf file link