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Paul A. Cobine | |
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![]() Dr. Paul A. Cobine in 2017 | |
Alma mater | The University of Queensland - Microbiology, B.S. and Ph.D. |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Metals in Biology |
Thesis | Copper (1)-binding regulates activity, structure and function of homeostasis proteins (2004) |
Doctoral advisors | Charles T. Dameron and Alastair McEwan |
Website | https://paulcobine.wixsite.com/cobinelab |
Paul A. Cobine is a biologist and the Lawrence C. Wit Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Auburn University. His research focuses on the mechanisms for recruitment and distribution of metals for cell survival, in particular, the regulation of mitochondrial copper homeostasis.
Cobine was born in Bundaberg, Queensland, he attended Heatley State school in Townsville before attending Burnside State High School in Nambour, where he was elected as the class president in his senior year. He then continued his education with Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Parasitology at the University of Queensland. After completion of the B.S. degree, he pursued a Ph.D. under the direction of Drs. Dameron and McEwan at the National Research Center for Environmental Toxicology (now EnTox) at the University of Queensland.
After completion of his Ph.D., Cobine joined Dr. Dennis Winge's research group at University of Utah School of Medicine as postdoctoral fellow (2004-2007) and as UMDF postdoctoral associate (2007-2008). During his postdoc, he focused on the assembly of cytochrome c oxidase and mitochondrial metal homeostasis. In 2008, he joined the Department of Biological Sciences at Auburn University as an assistant professor. In 2013, Cobine was promoted to the Associate Professor and in 2018 he was promoted to Professor. From 2019 to 2021 he served as the Graduate Program Officer, in Jan 2022 he was appointed as the chair of the Department of Biological Sciences.
Cobine teaches undergraduate level courses of general microbiology, clinical microbiology, virology, prokaryotic molecular genetics and graduate level courses of model systems and human disease and graduate teaching in biology. Cobine has mentored over 200 undergraduate students in authentic research experiences, supported more than 80 graduate students as committee member, and taught over 2,200 undergraduate students. Cobine was honored with Outstanding Teacher Award in 2017 from the College of Science and Mathematics and he was the recipient of The Gerald and Emily Leischuck Endowed Presidential Awards for Excellence in Teaching [1], Auburn University's most prestigious teaching award, in 2019.
Cobine's research is focused on the mechanisms for recruitment and distribution of metals using a combination of genetics, biochemistry, natural products and analytical chemistry. Metal availability is a limiting factor for cell survival [2]. Therefore, mechanisms to maintain the appropriate metal concentration have been highly conserved and the research in Cobine's group bridges from bacteria to mammals. Copper is an essential metal and has an established role in mitochondria as a cofactor for the terminal electron acceptor cytochrome c oxidase [3]. Cobine as a postoctoral fellow in Dennis Winge's group at the University of Utah discovered a pool of copper in the mitochondrial matrix that is used for assembly of cytochrome c oxidase [4] [5]. The localization of this pool necessitated the existence of transporter/s in the impermeable inner membrane of mitochondria. Cobine's research group at Auburn identified SLC25A3 as the importer of copper into the matrix [6] [7]. Once copper enters the matrix it was thought to be maintained in a largely inert state, however recent studies suggest that the cell death pathway of cuproptosis is initiated in the matrix [8] [9]. Therefore understanding the chelates and interaction in this compartment are important steps in understanding copper homeostasis. The Cobine Lab performs the majority of its copper research in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and with cell culture models and collaborates with Scot Leary at the University of Saskatchewan on animal studies. Due to the conserved mechanisms of metal homeostasis Cobine has developed part of his research program on bacterial pathogens. The plant pathogen Xylella fastidiosa compromises the host by appropriation of nutrients needed for normal plant growth. Cobine in collaboration with Leonardo De La Fuente at Auburn University are characterizing the mineral composition or “ionome” of X. fastidiosa during planktonic and biofilm growth and determining the partial ionome for healthy and infected plants to confirm the role of essential metals in the progression of the disease [10]. The ionome is defined as the “mineral nutrient and trace element composition of an organism” and the withholding or utilization of trace elements as defense mechanisms is known as nutritional immunity [11].
Cobine and his wife have five children. His wife runs a successful custom cakes business called Sweet as Cakes in Auburn, Alabama.