{{Short description|American biochemist (born 1959)}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Wesley I. Sundquist | image = Wes Sundquist 12-5-2024-1.jpg | caption = Sundquist in December, 2024 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1959|09|11}} | birth_place = Saint Paul, Minnesota, US | fields = Structural biology, biochemistry, virology, cell biology | workplaces = University of Utah (1992) MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology | alma_mater = Carleton College (BA; 1981){{br}}Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD; 1988) | known_for = Research in HIV assembly and membrane remodeling | awards = Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize (2024)
Mani L. Bhaumik Breakthrough of the Year Award
TIME100: The Most Influential People of 2025
Warren Alpert Foundation Prize (2025)
World Laureate Association (WLA) Prize (2025) | spouse = Nola Sundquist | children = 2 }} '''Wesley I. Sundquist''' is an American biochemist. Sundquist is Samuels Chair, Distinguished Professor, and Chair of the [https://medicine.utah.edu/biochemistry University of Utah Department of Biochemistry].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2023-01-19 |title=Wesley I. Sundquist {{!}} School of Medicine |url=https://medicine.utah.edu/faculty/wesley-i-sundquist |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=medicine.utah.edu |language=en}}</ref> Sundquist's research focuses on cellular, molecular and structural biology of retroviruses, particularly Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), and on cellular membrane remodeling by the Endosomal Sorting Complexes Required for Transport (ESCRT) pathway.
== Early life, education, and career == Sundquist was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota on September 11, 1959. He grew up in Saint Paul and Washington, D.C. He received his bachelor's degree in chemistry from Carleton College in Minnesota in 1981. Sundquist completed a PhD in chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with Stephen J. Lippard in 1988. He was then a postdoctoral fellow at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England with Sir Aaron Klug. In 1992, Sundquist joined the [https://medicine.utah.edu/biochemistry University of Utah Department of Biochemistry].
== Research == The HIV capsid encloses the viral RNA genome and facilitates viral replication. Sundquist and colleagues defined the unusual fullerene cone architecture of the viral capsid<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ganser |first1=Barbie K. |last2=Li |first2=Su |last3=Klishko |first3=Victor Y. |last4=Finch |first4=John T. |last5=Sundquist |first5=Wesley I. |date=1999 |title=Assembly and Analysis of Conical Models for the HIV-1 Core |journal=Science |volume=283 |issue=5398 |pages=80–83 |doi=10.1126/science.283.5398.80 |bibcode=1999Sci...283...80G |issn=0036-8075}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Su |last2=Hill |first2=Christopher P. |last3=Sundquist |first3=Wesley I. |last4=Finch |first4=John T. |date=2000 |title=Image reconstructions of helical assemblies of the HIV-1 CA protein |journal=Nature |volume=407 |issue=6802 |pages=409–413 |doi=10.1038/35030177 |pmid=11014200 |bibcode=2000Natur.407..409L |issn=0028-0836}}</ref> and identified essential functions of the capsid in HIV-1 replication,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=von Schwedler |first1=Uta K. |last2=Stray |first2=Kirsten M. |last3=Garrus |first3=Jennifer E. |last4=Sundquist |first4=Wesley I. |date=2003 |title=Functional Surfaces of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Capsid Protein |journal=Journal of Virology |volume=77 |issue=9 |pages=5439–5450 |doi=10.1128/jvi.77.9.5439-5450.2003 |pmid=12692245 |pmc=153941 |issn=0022-538X}}</ref> which helped enable development of the potent and long-lasting Lenacapavir capsid inhibitor by Gilead Sciences. The Sundquist lab also reconstituted capsid-dependent HIV reverse transcription and integration in a cell-free system.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Christensen |first1=Devin E. |last2=Ganser-Pornillos |first2=Barbie K. |last3=Johnson |first3=Jarrod S. |last4=Pornillos |first4=Owen |last5=Sundquist |first5=Wesley I. |date=2020-10-09 |title=Reconstitution and visualization of HIV-1 capsid-dependent replication and integration in vitro |journal=Science |volume=370 |issue=6513 |doi=10.1126/science.abc8420 |pmid=33033190 |pmc=8022914 |issn=0036-8075}}</ref>
To spread infection, viruses must shed from infected cells. Sundquist and colleagues found that retroviruses like HIV exit cells using the host ESCRT pathway.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Garrus |first1=Jennifer E. |last2=von Schwedler |first2=Uta K. |last3=Pornillos |first3=Owen W. |last4=Morham |first4=Scott G. |last5=Zavitz |first5=Kenton H. |last6=Wang |first6=Hubert E. |last7=Wettstein |first7=Daniel A. |last8=Stray |first8=Kirsten M. |last9=Côté |first9=Mélanie |last10=Rich |first10=Rebecca L. |last11=Myszka |first11=David G. |last12=Sundquist |first12=Wesley I. |date=2001-10-05 |title=Tsg101 and the Vacuolar Protein Sorting Pathway Are Essential for HIV-1 Budding |journal=Cell |volume=107 |issue=1 |pages=55–65 |doi=10.1016/S0092-8674(01)00506-2 |pmid=11595185 |issn=0092-8674|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=von Schwedler |first1=Uta K. |last2=Stuchell |first2=Melissa |last3=Müller |first3=Barbara |last4=Ward |first4=Diane M. |last5=Chung |first5=Hyo-Young |last6=Morita |first6=Eiji |last7=Wang |first7=Hubert E. |last8=Davis |first8=Thaylon |last9=He |first9=Gong-Ping |last10=Cimbora |first10=Daniel M. |last11=Scott |first11=Anna |last12=Kräusslich |first12=Hans-Georg |last13=Kaplan |first13=Jerry |last14=Morham |first14=Scott G. |last15=Sundquist |first15=Wesley I. |date=2003-09-19 |title=The Protein Network of HIV Budding |journal=Cell |volume=114 |issue=6 |pages=701–713 |doi=10.1016/S0092-8674(03)00714-1 |pmid=14505570 |issn=0092-8674|doi-access=free }}</ref> They also used this information to design new proteins that can assemble into nanocages, exit producer cells, and carry cargoes into new target cells.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Votteler |first1=Jörg |last2=Ogohara |first2=Cassandra |last3=Yi |first3=Sue |last4=Hsia |first4=Yang |last5=Nattermann |first5=Una |last6=Belnap |first6=David M. |last7=King |first7=Neil P. |last8=Sundquist |first8=Wesley I. |date=2016-11-30 |title=Designed proteins induce the formation of nanocage-containing extracellular vesicles |journal=Nature |volume=540 |issue=7632 |pages=292–295 |doi=10.1038/nature20607 |pmid=27919066 |pmc=5729044 |bibcode=2016Natur.540..292V |issn=0028-0836}}</ref>
Cytokinesis separates one replicating cell into two daughter cells. Sundquist's lab studies this process by determining the structures and functions of factors that act to complete and regulate cytokinesis.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Stuchell-Brereton |first1=Melissa D. |last2=Skalicky |first2=Jack J. |last3=Kieffer |first3=Collin |last4=Karren |first4=Mary Anne |last5=Ghaffarian |first5=Sanaz |last6=Sundquist |first6=Wesley I. |date=2007-10-11 |title=ESCRT-III recognition by VPS4 ATPases |journal=Nature |volume=449 |issue=7163 |pages=740–744 |doi=10.1038/nature06172 |issn=1476-4687 |pmid=17928862|bibcode=2007Natur.449..740S }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Morita |first1=Eiji |last2=Sandrin |first2=Virginie |last3=Chung |first3=Hyo-Young |last4=Morham |first4=Scott G. |last5=Gygi |first5=Steven P. |last6=Rodesch |first6=Christopher K. |last7=Sundquist |first7=Wesley I. |date=2007-10-03 |title=Human ESCRT and ALIX proteins interact with proteins of the midbody and function in cytokinesis |journal=The EMBO Journal |volume=26 |issue=19 |pages=4215–4227 |doi=10.1038/sj.emboj.7601850 |issn=0261-4189 |pmc=2230844 |pmid=17853893}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wenzel |first1=Dawn M. |last2=Mackay |first2=Douglas R. |last3=Skalicky |first3=Jack J. |last4=Paine |first4=Elliott L. |last5=Miller |first5=Matthew S. |last6=Ullman |first6=Katharine S. |last7=Sundquist |first7=Wesley I. |date=2022-09-15 |title=Comprehensive analysis of the human ESCRT-III-MIT domain interactome reveals new cofactors for cytokinetic abscission |journal=eLife |volume=11 |article-number=e77779 |doi=10.7554/eLife.77779 |doi-access=free |issn=2050-084X |pmc=9477494 |pmid=36107470}}</ref>
== Honors and awards ==
* Searle Scholars Award (1993) * ASBMB-Amgen Award for the application of biochemistry and molecular biology to the understanding of disease (2003)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-03-26 |title=U Biochemist Sundquist Receives National Honor For Research Into How HIV Assembles, Spreads - UNews Archive |url=https://archive.unews.utah.edu/news_releases/u-biochemist-sundquist-receives-national-honor-for-research-into-how-hiv-assembles-spreads/ |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=archive.unews.utah.edu |language=en-US}}</ref> * Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2011)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Member Directory {{!}} American Academy of Arts and Sciences |url=https://www.amacad.org/directory?search_api_fulltext=sundquist&field_class_section=All&field_class_section_1=All&field_deceased=All&sort_bef_combine=search_api_relevance_DESC |access-date=2024-11-01 |website=www.amacad.org}}</ref> * Member of National Academy of Sciences (2014)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wesley I. Sundquist – NAS |url=https://www.nasonline.org/directory-entry/wesley-i-sundquist-pthxml/ |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=www.nasonline.org/ |language=en}}</ref> * [https://rosenblattprize.utah.edu Rosenblatt Prize for Excellence] (2017)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Recipients – Rosenblatt Prize |url=https://rosenblattprize.utah.edu/recipients/ |access-date=2024-10-28 |language=en-US}}</ref> * Fellow of the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2021)<ref>{{Cite web |title=First class |url=https://www.asbmb.org/asbmb-today/people/042721/first-class |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=www.asbmb.org |language=en}}</ref> * Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize (2024)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-11-11 |title=The Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize |url=https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/research/louisa-gross-horwitz-prize |access-date=2025-07-03 |website=Columbia University Irving Medical Center |language=en}}</ref> * Mani L. Bhaumik Breakthrough of the Year Award (2025)<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Road to Lenacapavir, a Breakthrough HIV Treatment {{!}} American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |url=https://www.aaas.org/news/road-lenacapavir-breakthrough-hiv-treatment |access-date=2025-07-02 |website=www.aaas.org |language=en}}</ref> * TIME100: The Most Influential People of 2025<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=2025-04-16 |title=The 100 Most Influential People of 2025 |url=https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2025/ |access-date=2025-07-02 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}</ref> * Warren Alpert Foundation Prize (2025)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Warren Alpert |url=https://www.warrenalpert.org/ |access-date=2025-07-02 |website=Warren Alpert |language=en}}</ref> * [https://www.thewlaprize.org World Laureate Association Prize] (2025)<ref>{{Cite web |title=WLA Prize |url=https://www.thewlaprize.org/ |access-date=2025-10-22 |website=www.thewlaprize.org}}</ref>
== Personal life == Sundquist met his wife Nola in 1983 when they were graduate students at MIT, and they were married in 1987. As of 2025, their son Christopher is a Corporate and Securities Attorney at the Gunderson Detmer Law Firm in Boston<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gunderson Dettmer |url=https://www.gunder.com/en/people/chris-sundquist |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP - Chris Sundquist |language=en}}</ref> and their daughter Emily is a resident in the family practice at [https://glfhc.org/lawrence-family-medicine-residency/ Lawrence Family Health Center] in Lawrence, MA.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lawrence Family Medicine Residency {{!}} GLFHC - Greater Lawrence Family Health Center |url=https://glfhc.org/lawrence-family-medicine-residency/ |access-date=2025-07-02 |website=glfhc.org}}</ref>
==References== <references />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sundquist, Wesley}} Category:MIT School of Science alumni Category:20th-century American chemists Category:Scientists from Saint Paul, Minnesota Category:Carleton College alumni Category:University of Utah faculty Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:Scientists from Washington, D.C.