Pablo Iglesias

Pablo Iglesias, Ph.D.

Professor of Electrical Engineering

Secondary Appointment in Cell Biology
410-516-8898 (Office), 410-516-8898 (Lab), 410-516-5566 (Fax)

Johns Hopkins University
3400 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218

Website

Academic Titles

Edward J. Schaefer Professor of Electrical Engineering

Appointments/Affiliations

Joint Appointment in Biomedical Engineering

Research Topic

Computational biology; use of control and information theory to study signal transduction pathways.

Pablo A. Iglesias was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1964. He received the B.A.Sc.
degree in Engineering Science from the University of Toronto in 1987, and the Ph.D.
degree in Control Engineering from Cambridge University in 1991. Since then he has been
on the faculty of the Johns Hopkins University, where he is currently the Edward J.
Schaefer Professor of Electrical Engineering. He also holds appointments in the
Departments of Biomedical Engineering, and Applied Mathematics & Statistics. He has had
visiting appointments at Lund University (Automatic Control), The Weizmann Institute of
Science (Mathematics), the California Institute of Technology (Control and Dynamical
Systems), the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (Cell Biology). He also spent the 2012-3
academic year on sabbatical at the Max-Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex
Systems in Dresden.

Dr. Iglesias has authored over 100 research articles as well as two books: Minimum
Entropy Control for Time-Varying Systems (Birkhäuser) and Control Theory and Systems
Biology (MIT Press). He has received a number of awards for both research (the Charles
E. Ives Best Paper award for the Journal of Imaging Technology) and teaching (the George
E. Owen Teaching Award at Johns Hopkins University) and also named a Distinguished
lecturer for the IEEE Control Systems Society.

Dr. Iglesias’s research focuses on the use of control and information theory to study
biological signal transduction pathways. Among his research interests are: understanding
how cells interpret directional cues to guide cell motion, the regulatory mechanisms that
control cell division, and the sensing and actuation that enable cells to maintain lipid
homeostasis.

Biosketch

Publications

  • Lin Y.*, Pal DS*, Banerjee P, Banerjee T, Qin G, Deng Y, Borleis J, Iglesias PA and Devreotes PN. Ras suppression potentiates rear actomyosin contractility-driven cell polarization and migration. Nat Cell Biol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-024-01453-4
  • Kuhn J, Banerjee P, Haye A, Robinson DN, Iglesias PA and Devreotes PN. 2024. Complementary Cytoskeletal Feedback Loops Control Signal Transduction Excitability and Cell Polarity. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2024 Feb 13:2024.02.13.580131. doi: 10.1101/2024.02.13.580131.  PMC10888828.
  • Biswas D, Devreotes PN and Iglesias PA. 2021. Three-dimensional stochastic simulation of chemoattractant-mediated excitability in cells. PLoS Comput Biol. 2021 Jul 14;17(7):e1008803. PMC8330952. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008803. eCollection 2021 Jul.
  • Li X, Pal DS, Biswas D, Iglesias PA and Devreotes PN. Reverse fountain flow of phospha-tidylinositol-3,4- biphosphate polarizes migrating cells. EMBO J. 2021 Feb 15;40(4):e105094. doi: 10.15252/embj.2020105094.
  • DiNapoli K, Robinson DN, Iglesias PA. Tools for computational analysis of moving boundary problems in cellular mechanobiology.  Wiley Interdiscip Rev Syst Biol Med. 2020 Dec 10; e1514. doi: 10.1002/wsbm.1514.
  • Zhan H, Bhattacharya S, Cai H, Iglesias PA, Huang C-H, Devreotes PN. 2020. An Excitable Ras/PI3K/ERK Signaling Network Controls Migration and Oncogenic Transformation in Epithelial Cells. Dev Cell. 2020 Aug 31;S1534-5807(20)30599-2. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2020.08.001.
  • Bhattacharya S, Banerjee T, Miao Y, Zhan H, Devreotes PN, Iglesias PA. 2020. Traveling and standing waves mediate pattern formation in cellular protrusions.  Science Advances. 2020 Aug 7; 6(32): eaay 7682. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aay7682.
  • Kliment CR, Nguyen JMK, Kaltreider MJ, Lu YW, Claypool SM, Bailey KL, Radder JE, Sciurba FC, Zhang Y, Gregory AD, Iglesias PA, Sidhaye VK, Robinson DN*. Adenine Nucleotide Translocase regulates airway epithelial homeostasis, mitochondrial metabolism and ciliary function. bioRxiv. May 19 2020. DOI: 10.1101/2020.05.18.101378
  • Miao Y, Battacharya S, Banerjee T, Abudaker-Sharif B, Long Y, Inoue T, Iglesias P and Devreotes P. (2019). Wave patterns organize cellular protrusions and control cortical dynamics. Molecular Systems Biology 15(3). DOI 10.15252/msb.20188585| Published online 11.03.2019.

  • Li X, Edwards M, Swaney KF, Singh N, Bhattacharya S, Borleis J, Long Y, Iglesias PA, Chen J, and Devreotes PN. 2018. Mutually inhibitory Ras-PI(3,4)P2 feedback loops mediate cell migration. PNAS published ahead of print Sept. 7, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1809039115

  • Miao Y, Bhattacharya S, Edwards M, Cai H, Inoue T, Iglesias P, Devreotes PN. 2017.  Altering the threshold of an excitable signal transduction network changes cell migratory modes.  Nat Cell Biol 19:329-340.
  • Artemenko Y, Axiotakis L Jr., Borleis J, Iglesias PA, Deveotes PN. 2016. Chemical and mechanical stimuli act on common signal transduction and cytoskeletal networks. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. Nov. 22; 113(47):E7500-E7509. PMCID: PMC5127353 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27821730
  • Srivastava V, Iglesias PA, Robinson DN*. 2016. Cytokinesis: Robust cell shape regulation. Semin. Cell Dev. Biol. 2016; 53:39-44.

  • Schiffhauer ES, Luo T, Mohan K, Srivastava V, Qian X, Griffis E, Iglesias PA, Robinson DN*. Mechanoaccumulative elements of the mammalian actin cytoskeleton. Curr. Biol. 2016; 26: 1473-1479.

  • Swaney K.F., Borleis J., Iglesias P.A., and Devreotes, P.N. 2015.  Novel protein Callipygian defines the back of migrating cells. PNAS 2015 Jun 30. pii:201509098. [Epub ahead of print]

  • Wang M, Artemenko Y, Cai W, Iglesias PA and Peter N. Devreotes. (2014). The Directional Response of Chemotactic Cells Depends on a Balance between Cytoskeletal Architecture and the External Gradient.  Cell Rep Nov 6;9(3):1110-21. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2014.09.047. Epub 2014 Oct 23. PMID: 25437564 [PubMed - in process]. PMCID:PMC4250826
  • Tang M, Wang M, Shi C, Iglesias PA, Devreotes PN, and Huang CH  (2014).  Evolutionarily conserved coupling of adaptive and excitable networks mediates eukaryotic chemotaxis. Nat Commun. Oct 27;5:5175. PMCID: PMC4211273 [Available on 2015/4/27)]

  • Cai H, Katoh-Kurasawa M, Muramoto T, Santhanam B, Long Y, Li L, Ueda M, Iglesias PA, Shaulsky G, and Devreotes PN. Nucleocytoplasmic shuttling of a GATA transcription factor functions as a development timer. Science. 2014 Mar 21;343(6177):1249531. doi: 10.1126/science.1249531.

  • Huang, C.,Tang, M., Shi, C., Iglesias, P., and Devreotes, P.N. An excitable signal integrator couples to an idling cytoskeletal oscillator to drive cell migration. Nat Cell Biol. 2013 Nov;15(11):1307-16.

  • Luo T, Mohan K, Iglesias PA, Robinson DN. Molecular mechanisms of cellular mechanosensing. Nat. Mater. 2013; 12: 1064-1071.

  • Kee YS, Ren Y, Dorfman D, Iijima M, Firtel RA, Iglesias PA, Robinson DN. A mechanosensory system governs myosin II accumulation in dividing cells. Mol. Biol. Cell 2012; 23(8): 1510-1523.

  • Poirier CC, Ng WP, Robinson DN, Iglesias PA. Deconvolution of the cellular force-generating subsystems that govern cytokinesis furrow ingression. PLoS Comp. Biol. 2012; 8(4): e1002467. 

  • Luo T, Mohan K, Srivastava V, Ren Y, Iglesias PA, Robinson DN. Understanding the cooperative interactions between myosin II and actin crosslinkers mediated by actin filaments during mechanosensation. Biophys. J. 2012; 102(2): 238-247. 

  • Porter JR, Lee CSY, Espenshade PJ, Iglesias PA. 2012. Regulation of SREBP during hypoxia requires Ofd1-mediated control of both DNA binding and degradation. Mol. Biol. Cell 23:3764-3774.

  • Zhou Q, Kee Y-S, Poirier CC, Jelinek C, Osborne J, Divi S, Surcel A, Tran ME, Eggert US, Müller-Taubenberger A, Iglesias PA, Cotter RJ, Robinson DN. 14-3-3 coordinates microtubules, Rac, and myosin II to control cell mechanics and cytokinesis. Curr. Biol. 2010; 20:1881-1889.

  • Porter JR, Burg JS, Espenshade PJ, Iglesias PA. 2010. Ergosterol regulates SREBP cleavage in fission yeast. J. Biol. Chem. 285:41051-61.

  • Xiong, Y., Huang, C-H, Iglesias, P.A., and Devreotes, P.N. 2010. Cells navigate with a local-excitation, global-inhibition-biased excitable network. PNAS, 107:17079-17086.

  • Ren Y, Effler JC, Norstrom M, Luo T, Firtel RA, Iglesias PA, Rock, RS, Robinson DN. Mechanosensing through cooperative interactions between myosin-II and the actin crosslinker cortexillin-I. Curr. Biol. 2009; 19(17):1421-1428.

  • Reichl EM, Ren Y, Morphew MK, Delannoy M, Effler JC, Girard KD, Divi S, Iglesias PA, Kuo SC, Robinson DN.* 2008. Interactions between myosin and actin crosslinkers control cytokinesis contractility dynamics and mechanics. Curr. Biol. 18: 471-480. PMCID: PMC2361134

  • Chen, L., Iijima, M., Tang, M., Landree, M.A. Huang, Y.E., Xiong, Y., Iglesias, P.A., Devreotes, P.N. PLA2 and PI3K/PTEN pathways act in parallel to mediate chemotaxis. Developmental Cell. Developmental Cell. (2007) 12: 603-614.

  • Effler JC, Kee Y-S, Berk JM, Tran MN, Iglesias PA, Robinson DN.* Mitosis-specific mechanosensing and contractile protein redistribution control cell shape. Curr. Biol. 2006; 16(19):1962-1967. PMCID: PMC2474462

  • Janetopoulos C, Ma L, Devreotes PN, Iglesias PA. Chemoattractant-induced phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate accumulation is spatially amplified and adapts, independent of the actin cytoskeleton. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004 Jun 15;101(24):8951-6. PMC428453.