David G. Capco
Signal Transduction, Cytoskeleton, Early Development, Neural Implants, Bioimaging
David G. Capco, Ph.D., explores the signal transduction machinery that regulates cell function with an emphasis on signaling agents which regulate the cell cycle. The advent of cloned agricultural animals such as "Dolly" have resulted in a new focus of interest in the regulation of the mechanisms that activate the egg and start the program of early development in the zygote that we are focusing on. In eggs arrested at meiotic metaphase II there are many calcium- dependent enzymes that have a role in re-engineering the cell such as protein kinase C (i.e., PKC) and calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (i.e., CaM Kinase II). My current research employs mammalian oocytes, eggs, and embryos to investigate specific roles for PKC in the development of mammals as a model to understand human development. In this system PKC acts to mediate exocytosis, cytokinesis, and cytoskeletal organization. In addition, CaM Kinase II which is tightly associated with the meiotic spindle causally mediates the transit into anaphase II as well as regulating several other key pathways. Additionally, the laboratory is investigating mechanisms that regulate cytoskeletal organization and assembly for the actin filament and intermediate filament networks. These studies revealed an intermediate filament network that is important for normal implantation of the embryo into the uterine wall of the female. This special network is regulated by cytoplasmic signaling agents including PKC. The regulation of beta- catenin in the assembly of first cell adhesion event in the embryo, that is embryonic compaction, is also a target of current studies. He collaborates in multi-disciplinary projects including long term implantable electrodes and in Bioimaging.
David Capco served as Director of the Cell Biology Program at the National Science Foundation in 1994 and 1995. While at the National Science Foundation he also served as co- chair of the special panel for evaluation of Women's Planning Grants and Career Advancement Awards. He was a senior Fulbright Scholar at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry (Gttingen, Germany) in 1992 and 1993 and earlier was recipient of a Research Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health (1985-1990). In 1993 he received the Governor's Recognition (Team) Award in the State of Arizona. He was Founding Chair of the Education Committee for the Society for Developmental Biology and in 1997 he completed his second term (for a total of five years) as Chair of the Education Committee of the Society for Developmental Biology. Previously he served two terms as a member of the Education Committee of the American Society of Cell Biology. He served two terms as member of the Board of Trustees of the Society for Developmental Biology. He is an associate editor of the journal, Molecular Reproduction and Development and has served as special editor for Current Topics in Developmental Biology and the Journal of Electron Microscopy Technique. He has currently published over sixty scientific papers. He served as a member of the steering committee of the Bioindustry Cluster of the Governor's Strategic Taskforce for Economic Development for the State of Arizona and as an elected member of the Board of the Arizona Bioindustry Association, where he served as Chair of their Nominating Committee.
Dr. Capco has been a member of the faculty at Arizona State University for the past 20 years where he teaches classes in cell biology for life science majors and in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Graduate Program. Recently with funds from educational grants totaling $0.5 million, he created a multi-disciplinary class entitled "Cell Biotechnology Laboratory" which brings together instructors and students from both the life sciences and bioengineering students in a hand-on laboratory setting and is taught similar to an MBL summer course. Approximately once a year he teaches in one of the largest enrollment classes in the State of Arizona, an introductory biology class with the goal of providing a better understanding of science, and embodying an excitement for science, to the students. In 2003 and 2004 he served as co-director and then director of the Human Disease and Society Learning Community at ASU. This was one of the first three Learning Communities developed at ASU.
Dr. Capco received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in Cell and Developmental Biology (1980) and a M.S. in Biology from the University of Houston (1977). Before becoming a member of the faculty at Arizona State University he spent three years as a postdoctoral fellow at MIT first as an Anna Fuller Fund Fellow for Medical Research and subsequently as a National Cancer Institute Fellow (NIH).
Selected Publications
Baluch, D.B., C.M. Pauken, and D.G. Capco. (2004). Cytoplasmic signaling and cell cycle control in the mouse egg and embryo, in "A Laboratory Guide of the Mammalian Embryo," edited by D.K. Gardner, M. Lane and A. Watson. Oxford University Press.
Hu, J, D.P.Baluch, A. Razdan, G.M. Nelson, GE. Farin, and D.G. Capco (2003). Case study: Cellular scaffold extraction using crest point for volume rendering. Eurographics/IEEE TCVG Visualisation Symposium Proceedings, G.-P. Bonneau, S. Hahmann, C. Hansen (ed.), pp. 123-127.
Hu, J., A. Razdan, G. Nielson, G. Farin, D.P. Baluch, and D.G. Capco. (2003) Volume segmentation using Weibull E-SD fields. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics. 9:1-9.
Baluch, D.P. and D.G. Capco (2002). Cellular scaffolds in mammalian eggs. Front. Bioscience. 7:d1653-1661.
Razdan, A., K. Patel, G.E. Farnin, and D.G. Capco (2001). Volume visualization of multicolor laser confocal microscope data. Computers and Graphics 25: 371-382.
Capco, D.G. (2001). Molecular and biochemical regulation of mammalian early development. Int. Rev. Cytology. 207:195-235.
Hatch, K.C. and D.G. Capco (2001). Co-localization of CaM KII and MAP Kinase on architectural elements of the mouse egg: Potentiation of MAP Kinase activity by CaM KII Mol. Reprod. Develop. 58:69-77.
Pauken C. M. and D.G. Capco (2000). The expression and stage-specific localization of protein kinase C isotypes during mouse preimplantation development. Develop. Biol. 223:411-421.
Pauken, C.M and D.G. Capco (1999). Regulation of cell adhesion during embryonic compaction of mammalian embryos: Roles for PKC and b-catenin. Mol. Reprod. and Develop. 54:135-144.
Pauken, C.M. and D. G. Capco (1999). Methods for analysis of cytoplasmic signal transduction in mammalian eggs and embryos in, Advances in Molecular Biology: A Comparative Methods Approach to the Study of Oocytes and Embryos, edited by J. Richter, Oxford University Press.
Johnson, J., B.M. Bierle, G.I. Gallicano, and D. G. Capco (1998).Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II and calmodulin: Regulators of the meiotic spindle in mouse eggs. Develop. Biol. 204:464-477.
Johnson J. and D.G. Capco (1997). Progesterone acts through protein kinase C to remodel the cytoplasm as the amphibian oocyte becomes the fertilization-competent egg. Mech. of Develop. 67:215-226.
Gallicano, G.I., R.W. McGaughey, and D.G. Capco (1997). Activation of protein kinase C after fertilization is required for remodeling the mouse egg into the zygote. Mol. Reprod. Develop. 46:587-601.
In Press:
Koeneman, B and D. Capco. (In press) Cell Signaling in Encyclopedia of Cellular Biology and Molecular Medicine. R.A. Meyers Editor.
In Final Review:
Koeneman, B.A., K-K Lee, A. Singh, J. He, G.B. Raupp, A. Panitch, and D.G. Capco. An ex vivo method for evaluating the biocomppatibility of neuronal electrodes in rat brain slice cultures. Journal of Neuroscience Methods.
Baluch, D.P., B.A. Koeneman, K.R. Hatch, R.W. McGaughey, and D.G. Capco. PKC isotypes in post-activated and fertilized mouse eggs: Association with the meiotic spindle. Developmental Biology.
Books:
Editor, D. G. Capco: Cytoskeletal Mechanisms in Animal Development, publisher, Academic Press, NY. Publisher 1995.
Editor, D.G. Capco: Molecular and Biochemical regulation of pre-implantation development, Frontiers in Bioscience, Pub; electronic issue. 2001
Patents:
Rouhani, S.T. and D. G. Capco. Provisional Patent Application: Microcapillary Bioreactor for Growth of Human and Animal Tissue. Filing Date: February 28, 2002 Regular Patent application February 28, 2003. PCT/US03/06251. International Patent filed Sept 12, 2003.
Co-inventor (Capco) . A 3D digital library system PCT/US03/10655.
Co-inventor (Capco) Benzocyclobutene (BCB) as a biocompatible material. 60/445,156