Department of Biological Science

Biological Science Faculty Member - Retired

Professor Emeritus of Biological Science
Ph.D., University of Rhode Island, 1976
Enzyme structure, function and evolution; comparative biochemistry

Research and Professional Interests:

Over the years I have been interested in cellular energy homeostasis in animals with emphasis on the evolution and physiological roles of a family of enzymes called the phosphagen (guanidino) kinases. These enzymes include the more familiar creatine kinase which plays a critical role in mitigating spatial and temporal mismatches in ATP supply and demand in certain cell types. Our work has benefited from substantive collaborations with a structural biology group as well as several molecular evolution labs.

Selected Publications:

Bertin, M., S.A. Pomponi, C. Kouhuta, N. Iwasaki, T. Suzuki and W.R. Ellington (2007) Origin of the genes for the isoforms of creatine kinase. Gene 39: 273-282.

Tanaka, K., K. Uda, M. Shimada, K.-I. Takahashi, S. Gamou, W.R. Ellington and T. Suzuki (2007) Evolution of the cytoplasmic and mitochondrial phosphagen kinases unique to annelid groups. Journal of Molecular Evolution 65: 616-625.

Conejo, M., M. Bertin, S.A. Pomponi and W.R. Ellington (2008) The early evolution of phosphagen kinases- Insights from choanoflagellate and poriferan arginine kinases. Journal of Molecular Evolution 66: 11-20.

Uda, K., K. Yamamoto, N. Iwasaki, M. Awai, K. Fujikura, W.R. Ellington and T. Suzuki (2008) Two-domain arginine kinase from the deep-sea clam Calyptogena kaikoi- Evidence of two active domains. Comparative Biochemistry & Physiology B 151: 176-182.

Hoffman, G.G., O. Davulcu, S. Sona and W.R. Ellington (2008) Contributions to catalysis and potential interactions of the three catalytic domains in a contiguous trimeric creatine kinase. FEBS Journal (formerly European Journal of Biochemistry) 275: 646-654.

Suzuki, T., K. Uda, M. Adachi, H. Sanada, K. Tanaka, C. Mizuta, K. Ishida and W.R. Ellington (2009) Evolution of the diverse array of phosphagen systems present in annelids. Comparative Biochemistry & Physiology B 152: 60-66.

Bush, J.D., O. Kirillova, S.A. Clark, O. Davulcu, F. Fabiola, Q. Xie, T. Somasundaram, W.R. Ellington and M.S. Chapman (2011) The structure of lombricine kinase: implications for phosphagen kinase conformational changes. Journal of Biological Chemistry 286: 9338-9350.

Hoffman, G.G. and W.R. Ellington (2011) Arginine kinase isoforms in the closest protozoan relative of metazoans. Comparative Biochemistry & Physiology D (Genomics & Proteomics) 6: 171-177.

Uda, K., W.R. Ellington and T. Suzuki (2012) A diverse array of creatine kinase and arginine kinase isoform genes is present in the starlet sea anemone Nematostella vectensis, a cnidarian model system for studying developmental evolution. Gene 497: 214-227.

“Fraga, D., W.R. Ellington and T. Suzuki (2022) The characterization of novel monomeric creatine kinases in the early branching Alveolata species, Perkinsus marinus: Implications for phosphagen kinase evolution. Comparative Biochemistry & Physiology B (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology) 262: 110758.”