Caroline Enns, Ph.D

  • Professor of Cell, Developmental and Cancer Biology, School of Medicine
  • Cancer Biology Graduate Program, School of Medicine
  • Cell and Developmental Biology Graduate Program, School of Medicine
  • Program in Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, School of Medicine

Biography

The cell is a highly organized and dynamic structure. Most proteins are found exclusively in one compartment of the cell and are only transported to other locations as a result of intra- or extra-cellular signaling pathways. For the most part, proteins are synthesized in the cytoplasm and targeted either co- or post-translationally to their particular destination. Recently, an increasing number of human diseases have been attributed to mutations which result in the mistargeting of essential proteins. The signals responsible for the targeting membrane proteins in the biosynthetic and endocytic pathways are of particular interest to my laboratory. In addition to studying the basic cell biology of protein trafficking within the cell, we have begun to examine the trafficking and function of the protein implicated in hemochromatosis, the most common hereditary disease of people of European ancestry. Malfunctioning of this protein results in the abnormal accumulation of iron in the body. Iron uptake into the body is highly regulated. Although it is essential for life, too much iron is toxic and results in heart failure, adult onset diabetes, arthritis, and cirrhosis of the liver. We are examining the intracellular trafficking of this protein and how it participates in the control of iron uptake and egress.

Education and training

  • Degrees

    • Ph.D., 1976, University of Oregon

Areas of interest

  • cell biology protein trafficking hereditary hemochromatosis cellular basis of human disease structure function of membrane proteins cancer

Additional information

Publications

Publications

  • Hepcidin expression is associated with increased γ-secretase–mediated cleavage of neogenin in the liver

    Journal of Biological Chemistry
    1. Caroline A. Enns
    2. Richard H. Zhang
    3. Shall Jue
    4. An Sheng Zhang

  • Matriptase-2 regulates iron homeostasis primarily by setting the basal levels of hepatic hepcidin expression through a nonproteolytic mechanism

    Journal of Biological Chemistry
    1. Caroline A. Enns
    2. Tyler Weiskopf
    3. Richard H. Zhang
    4. Jeffrey Wu
    5. Shall Jue
    6. Makiko Kawaguchi
    7. Hiroaki Kataoka
    8. An Sheng Zhang

  • Hepatocyte neogenin is required for hemojuvelin-mediated hepcidin expression and iron homeostasis in mice

    Blood
    1. Caroline A. Enns
    2. Shall Jue
    3. An Sheng Zhang

  • Extrahepatic deficiency of transferrin receptor 2 is associated with increased erythropoiesis independent of iron overload

    Journal of Biological Chemistry
    1. Aaron M. Wortham
    2. Devorah C. Goldman
    3. Juxing Chen
    4. William H. Fleming
    5. An Sheng Zhang
    6. Caroline A. Enns

  • The ectodomain of matriptase-2 plays an important nonproteolytic role in suppressing hepcidin expression in mice

    Blood
    1. Caroline A. Enns
    2. Shall Jue
    3. An Sheng Zhang

  • Imaging viper-labeled cellular proteins by correlative light and electron microscopy

    Bio-protocol
    1. Julia K. Doh
    2. Young Hwan Chang
    3. Caroline A. Enns
    4. Claudia S. Lopez
    5. Kimberly E. Beatty

  • Implementing viper for imaging cellular proteins by fluorescence microscopy

    Bio-protocol
    1. Julia K. Doh
    2. Caroline A. Enns
    3. Kimberly E. Beatty

  • The catalytic, stem, and transmembrane portions of matriptase-2 are required for suppressing the expression of the iron-regulatory hormone hepcidin

    Journal of Biological Chemistry
    1. Peizhong Mao
    2. Aaron M. Wortham
    3. Caroline A. Enns
    4. An Sheng Zhang

  • The hemochromatosis protein HFE signals predominantly via the BMP type I receptor ALK3 in vivo

    Communications Biology
    1. Lisa Traeger
    2. Caroline A. Enns
    3. Jan Krijt
    4. Andrea U. Steinbicker

  • Transferrin Receptors TfR1 and TfR2 Bind Transferrin through Differing Mechanisms

    Biochemistry
    1. Mark D. Kleven
    2. Shall Jue
    3. Caroline A. Enns

  • Ultrafiltered recombinant AAV8 vector can be safely administered in vivo and efficiently transduces liver

    PloS one
    1. Mark D. Kleven
    2. Michelle M. Gomes
    3. Aaron M. Wortham
    4. Caroline A. Enns
    5. Christoph A. Kahl

  • VIPER is a genetically encoded peptide tag for fluorescence and electron microscopy

    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
    1. Julia K. Doh
    2. Jonathan D. White
    3. Hannah K. Zane
    4. Young Hwan Chang
    5. Claudia S. López
    6. Caroline A. Enns
    7. Kimberly E. Beatty

  • Matriptase-2 suppresses hepcidin expression by cleaving multiple components of the hepcidin induction pathway

    Journal of Biological Chemistry
    1. Mastura Wahedi
    2. Aaron M. Wortham
    3. Mark D. Kleven
    4. Ningning Zhao
    5. Shall Jue
    6. Caroline A. Enns
    7. An Sheng Zhang

  • The tumor suppressor, P53, decreases the metal transporter, ZIP14

    Nutrients
    1. Ningning Zhao
    2. An Sheng Zhang
    3. Aaron M. Wortham
    4. Shall Jue
    5. Mitchell D. Knutson
    6. Caroline A. Enns

  • Versatile Interacting Peptide (VIP) Tags for Labeling Proteins with Bright Chemical Reporters

    ChemBioChem
    1. Hannah K. Zane
    2. Julia K. Doh
    3. Caroline A. Enns
    4. Kimberly E. Beatty

  • Mutations in SLC39A14 disrupt manganese homeostasis and cause childhood-onset parkinsonism-dystonia

    Nature communications
    1. Karin Tuschl
    2. Esther Meyer
    3. Leonardo E. Valdivia
    4. Ningning Zhao
    5. Chris Dadswell
    6. Alaa Abdul-Sada
    7. Christina Y. Hung
    8. Michael A. Simpson
    9. W. K. Chong
    10. Thomas S. Jacques
    11. Randy L. Woltjer
    12. Simon Eaton
    13. Allison Gregory
    14. Lynn Sanford
    15. Eleanna Kara
    16. Henry Houlden
    17. Stephan M. Cuno
    18. Holger Prokisch
    19. Lorella Valletta
    20. Valeria Tiranti
    21. Rasha Younis
    22. Eamonn R. Maher
    23. John Spencer
    24. Ania Straatman-Iwanowska
    25. Paul Gissen
    26. Laila A.M. Selim
    27. Guillem Pintos-Morell
    28. Wifredo Coroleu-Lletget
    29. Shekeeb S. Mohammad
    30. Sangeetha Yoganathan
    31. Russell C. Dale
    32. Maya Thomas
    33. Jason Rihel
    34. Olaf A. Bodamer
    35. Caroline A. Enns
    36. Susan J. Hayflick
    37. Peter T. Clayton
    38. Philippa B. Mills
    39. Manju A. Kurian
    40. Stephen W. Wilson

  • Neogenin facilitates the induction of hepcidin expression by hemojuvelin in the liver

    Journal of Biological Chemistry
    1. Ningning Zhao
    2. Julia E. Maxson
    3. Richard H. Zhang
    4. Mastura Wahedi
    5. Caroline A. Enns
    6. An Sheng Zhang

  • CD81 Promotes both the degradation of transferrin receptor 2 (TfR2) and the Tfr2-mediated maintenance of hepcidin expression

    Journal of Biological Chemistry
    1. Juxing Chen
    2. Caroline A. Enns

  • Low intracellular iron increases the stability of Matriptase-2

    Journal of Biological Chemistry
    1. Ningning Zhao
    2. Christopher P. Nizzi
    3. Sheila A. Anderson
    4. Jiaohong Wang
    5. Akiko Ueno
    6. Hidekazu Tsukamoto
    7. Richard S. Eisenstein
    8. Caroline A. Enns
    9. An Sheng Zhang

  • An iron-regulated and glycosylation-dependent proteasomal degradation pathway for the plasma membrane metal transporter ZIP14

    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
    1. Ningning Zhao
    2. An Sheng Zhang
    3. Christal Worthen
    4. Mitchell D. Knutson
    5. Caroline A. Enns

  • Ferristatin II Promotes Degradation of Transferrin Receptor-1 In Vitro and In Vivo

    PloS one
    1. Shaina L. Byrne
    2. Peter D. Buckett
    3. Jonghan Kim
    4. Flora Luo
    5. Jack Sanford
    6. Juxing Chen
    7. Caroline Enns
    8. Marianne Wessling-Resnick

  • Increased Iron Loading Induces Bmp6 Expression in the Non-Parenchymal Cells of the Liver Independent of the BMP-Signaling Pathway

    PloS one
    1. Caroline A. Enns
    2. Riffat Ahmed
    3. Jiaohong Wang
    4. Akiko Ueno
    5. Christal Worthen
    6. Hidekazu Tsukamoto
    7. An Sheng Zhang

  • Iron regulation by hepcidin

    Journal of Clinical Investigation
    1. Ningning Zhao
    2. An Sheng Zhang
    3. Caroline A. Enns

  • N-linked glycosylation is required for transferrin-induced stabilization of transferrin receptor 2, but not for transferrin binding or trafficking to the cell surface

    Biochemistry
    1. Ningning Zhao
    2. Caroline A. Enns

  • The First Transmembrane Domain of Lipid Phosphatase SAC1 Promotes Golgi Localization

    PloS one
    1. Jinzhi Wang
    2. Juxing Chen
    3. Caroline A. Enns
    4. Peter Mayinger