Jeffrey Woodruff, Ph.D.

2011-2017 Post-doc, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany

2005-2011 Ph.D., Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley

2001-2005 B.S., Biology, University of Texas at Austin

Research Overview: Eggs can survive in a dormant state for many years. They then dramatically reawaken upon fertilization and give rise to a complex organism. How does this happen?  The Woodruff lab combines live-cell imaging, nano-rheology, and in vitro reconstiution to address how organelles assemble and disassemble following fertilization.  The lab also focuses on protein quality control and stability in oocytes. With this knowledge, we can hopefully better understand how cell division errors arise during cellular ageing and contribute to cancer and fertility decline during advanced materal age.

• Biological phase separation
• Material properties of organelles
• Oocyte quality and age-related fertility problems
• Regulation of centrosome size and number

Featured Publications

Regulated changes in material properties underlie centrosome disassembly during mitotic exit.

Mittasch M, Tran VM, Rios MU, Fritsch AW, Enos SJ, Ferreira Gomes B, Bond A, Kreysing M, Woodruff JB, J. Cell Biol. 2020 Apr 219 4

The Centrosome Is a Selective Condensate that Nucleates Microtubules by Concentrating Tubulin.

Woodruff JB, Ferreira Gomes B, Widlund PO, Mahamid J, Honigmann A, Hyman AA Cell 2017 Jun 169 6 1066-1077.e10

Centrosomes. Regulated assembly of a supramolecular centrosome scaffold in vitro.

Woodruff JB, Wueseke O, Viscardi V, Mahamid J, Ochoa SD, Bunkenborg J, Widlund PO, Pozniakovsky A, Zanin E, Bahmanyar S, Zinke A, Hong SH, Decker M, Baumeister W, Andersen JS, Oegema K, Hyman AA Science 2015 May 348 6236 808-12

Soluble tubulin is significantly enriched at mitotic centrosomes.

Baumgart J, Kirchner M, Redemann S, Bond A, Woodruff J, Verbavatz JM, Jülicher F, Müller-Reichert T, Hyman AA, Brugués J, J. Cell Biol. 2019 Dec 218 12 3977-3985

FlexiBAC: a versatile, open-source baculovirus vector system for protein expression, secretion, and proteolytic processing.

Lemaitre RP, Bogdanova A, Borgonovo B, Woodruff JB, Drechsel DN, BMC Biotechnol. 2019 03 19 1 20

Assembly of Mitotic Structures through Phase Separation.

Woodruff JB J. Mol. Biol. 2018 May

Organization and Function of Non-dynamic Biomolecular Condensates.

Woodruff JB, Hyman AA, Boke E Trends Biochem. Sci. 2017 Dec

Phosphatase PP2A and microtubule-mediated pulling forces disassemble centrosomes during mitotic exit.

Enos SJ, Dressler M, Gomes BF, Hyman AA, Woodruff JB Biol Open 2017 Dec

Polo-like kinase phosphorylation determines Caenorhabditis elegans centrosome size and density by biasing SPD-5 toward an assembly-competent conformation.

Wueseke O, Zwicker D, Schwager A, Wong YL, Oegema K, Jülicher F, Hyman AA, Woodruff JB Biol Open 2016 Oct 5 10 1431-1440

Method: In vitro analysis of pericentriolar material assembly.

Woodruff JB, Hyman AA Methods Cell Biol. 2015 129 369-82

• Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences
  (2020)
• CPRIT Recruitment Award
  (2018)
• EMBO Long-Term Postdoctoral Fellow
  (2013-2015)
• Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow
  (2012-2013)
• Weintraub Graduate Student Award nominee
  (2011)
• Genentech Graduate Student Fellowship
  (2010-2011)
• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
  (2006-2009)
• Dean's Honored Graduate, UT Austin
  (2005)