Publications

 

Assistant Professor (The University of Chicago)

Neidt, E.M., Scott, B.j., and D.R. Kovar. 2009. Formin differentially utilizes profilin isoforms to rapidly assemble actin filaments. J. Biol. Chem. 284, 673-84. (PubMed)

Ezezika, O., Younger, N.S., Lu, J., Kaiser, D.A., Corbin, Z.A., Nolen, B.J., Kovar, D.R., and T.D. Pollard. 2009. Incompatibility with formin Cdc12p prevents human profilin from substituting for fission yeast profilin: insights from crystal structures of fission yeast profilin. J. Biol. Chem. In press. (PubMed)

Neidt, E.M., Skau, c.T., and D.R. Kovar. 2008. The cytokinesis formins from the nematode worm and fission yeast differentially mediate actin filament assembly. J. Biol. Chem. 283, 23872-83. (PubMed)

Berro, J., Michelot, A., Blanchoin, L., Kovar, D.R., and J.L. Martiel. 2007. Attachment conditions control actin filament buckling and production of forces. Biophys. J. 92, 2546-58. (PubMed)

*Kovar, D.R. 2007. Intracellular motility: myosin and tropomyosin in actin cable flow. Curr. Biol. 17, R244-7. (PubMed)

*Kovar, D.R. 2006. Molecular details of formin-mediated actin assembly. Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 18, 11-17. (PubMed)

*Kovar, D.R. 2006. Arp2/3 ATP hydrolysis: to branch or to debranch? Nat. Cell. Biol. 8, 783-5. (PubMed)

*Kovar, D.R. 2006. Cell polarity: formin on the move. Curr. Biol. 16, R535-8. (PubMed)

 

Postdoctoral Fellow (Yale University)

Kovar, D.R., Harris, E.S., Mahaffy, R., Higgs, H.N., and T.D. Pollard. 2006. Control of the assembly of ATP- and ADP-actin by formins and profilin. Cell. 124, 423-435. (PubMed)

Vavylonis, D., Kovar, D.R., O'shaughnessy, B., and T.D. Pollard. 2006. Model of formin-associated actin filament elongation. Mol. Cell. 21, 455-466. (PubMed)

Wu, J.Q., Sirotkin, V., Kovar, D.R., Lord, M., Beltzner, C.C., Kuhn, J.R. and T.D. Pollard. 2006. Assembly of the cytokinetic contractile ring from a broad band of nodes in fission yeast. J. Cell Biol. (PubMed)

Moseley, J.B., Okada, K., Balcer, H.I., Kovar, D.R., Pollard, T.D. and B.L. Goode. 2006. Twinfilin is an actin-filament-severing protein and promotes rapid turnover of actin structures in vivo. J. Cell Sci. 119, 455-66. (PubMed)

Kovar, D.R., Wu, J.-Q., and T.D. Pollard. 2005. Profilin-mediated competition between capping protein and formin Cdc12p during cytokinesis in fission yeast. Mol. Biol. Cell. 16, 2313-2324. (PubMed)

Kovar, D.R. and T.D. Pollard. Insertional assembly of actin in association with formins produces piconewton forces. 2004. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 41, 14725-14730. (PubMed)

Wu, J.-Q., Kuhn, J.R., Kovar, D.R., and T.D. Pollard. 2003. Spatial and temporal pathway for assembly and constriction of the contractile ring in fission yeast cytokinesis. Devel. Cell. 5, 723-734. (PubMed)

Kovar, D.R., Kuhn, J.R., Tichy, A.L., and T.D. Pollard. 2003. The fission yeast cytokinesis formin Cdc12p is a barbed end actin filament capping protein gated by profilin. J. Cell Biol. 161, 875-887. (PubMed)

*Kovar, D.R. and T.D. Pollard. 2004. Progressing actin: Formin as a processive elongation machine. Nat. Cell Biol. 6, 1158-9. (PubMed)

 

Graduate School (Purdue University)

Klein, M.G., Shi, W., Ramagopal, U., Tseng, Y., Kovar, D.R., Staiger, C.J., and S.C. Almo. 2004. Structure of the actin crosslinking core of fimbrin. Structure. 12, 999-1013. (PubMed)

Preuss M.L., Kovar, D.R., Lee, Y.R., Staiger, C.J., Delmer, D.P. and B. Liu. 2004. A plant-specific kinesin binds to actin microfilaments and interacts with cortical microtubules in cotton fibers. Plant Phys. 136, 3945-55. (PubMed)

Huang, S., Blanchoin, L., Kovar, D.R., and C.J. Staiger. 2003. Arabidopsis capping protein (AtCP) is a heterodimer that regulates assembly at the barbed ends of actin filaments. J. Biol. Chem. 278, 44832-42. (PubMed)

Snowman, B.N., Kovar, D.R., Shevchenko, G., Franklin-Tong, V.E. and C.J. Staiger. 2002. Signal-mediated depolymerization of actin in pollen during the self-incompatibility response. Plant Cell 14, 2613-2626. (PubMed)

Kovar, D.R., Yang, P., Sale, W.S., Drøbak, B.K., and C.J. Staiger. 2001. Chlamydomonas reinhardtii expresses a profilin with unusual biochemical properties. J. Cell Sci. 114, 4293-4305. (PubMed)

Kovar, D.R., Drøbak, B.K., Collings, D.A., and C.J. Staiger. 2001. The characterization of ligand-specific maize profilin mutants. Biochem. J. 358, 49-57. (PubMed)

Kovar, D.R.1, Gibbon, B.C.1, McCurdy, D.W., and C.J. Staiger. 2001. Fluorescently-labeled fimbrin decorates a dynamic actin filament network in live plant cells. Planta 213, 390-395. 1[contributed equally to this work] (PubMed)

Kovar, D.R., Staiger, C.J., Weaver, E.A., and D.W. McCurdy. 2000. AtFim1 is an actin filament crosslinking protein from Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant J. 24, 625-36. (PubMed)

Kovar, D.R., Drøbak, B.K., and C.J. Staiger. 2000. Maize profilin isoforms are functionally distinct. Plant Cell 12, 583-598. (PubMed)

Hu, S., Brady, S.R., Kovar, D.R., Staiger, C.J., Clark, G.B., Roux, S.J., and G.K. Muday. 2000. Identification of plant actin-binding proteins by F-actin affinity chromatography. Plant J. 24, 172-37. (PubMed)

Schobert, C., Gottschalk, M., Kovar, D.R., Staiger, C.J., Yoo, B.C., and W.J. Lucas. 2000. Characterization of Ricinus communis phloem profilin, RcPRO1. Plant Mol. Biol. 42, 719-30. (PubMed)

Gibbon, B.C., Kovar, D.R., and C.J. Staiger. 1999. Latrunculin B has different effects on maize pollen germination and tube growth. Plant Cell 11, 2349-2363. (PubMed)

Gibbon, B.C., Zonia, L.E., Kovar, D.R., Hussey, P.J., and C.J. Staiger. 1998. Pollen profilin function depends on the interaction with proline-rich motifs. Plant Cell 10, 981-994. (PubMed)

*Kovar, D.R. and C.J. Staiger. 2000. Actin depolymerizing factor. In Actin: A Dynamic Framework for Multiple Plant Cell Functions. C.J. Staiger, F. Baluska, D. Volkmann, and P. Barlow (eds). Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp. 67-85.

 

*Review Articles