Draft:Paul A. Cobine

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.

Early life and education
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.

Career
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.

Teaching interests
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, Auburn University's most prestigious teaching award, in 2019.

Research interests
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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.

Awards and honors

 * 2027 GRC Co-chair with Donita Brady (University of Pennsylvania) for Cell Biology of Metals
 * 2022 Appointed Department Chair for Biological Sciences
 * 2021 Lawrence C. Wit Professor
 * 2019 Gerald and Emily Leischuck Endowed Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching
 * 2018 AU Parents Association Faculty and Staff Award
 * 2018 COSAM Young Scholar Award
 * 2018 Co-Chair with Amanda Bird (The Ohio State University) of the 2018 FASEB meeting “Trace Elements in Biology and Medicine”
 * 2017 COSAM Award for Outstanding Teaching
 * 2016 COSAM Outstanding Faculty Outreach Award
 * 2015 COSAM Outstanding Advisor Award
 * 2011 Honorary membership Alpha Epsilon Delta
 * 2010 Faculty Honoree for Camp War Eagle: Freshman orientation program

Selected publications

 * Cobine PA, Pierrel F, Bestwick ML, Winge DR. Mitochondrial matrix copper complex used in metallation of cytochrome oxidase and superoxide dismutase. J Biol Chem. 2006 Dec 1;281(48):36552-9. PubMed ID: 17008312.
 * Vest KE, Leary SC, Winge DR, Cobine PA. Copper import into the mitochondrial matrix in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is mediated by Pic2, a mitochondrial carrier family protein. J Biol Chem. 2013 Aug 16;288(33):23884-92. PubMed Central ID: PMC3745335.
 * Boulet A, Vest KE, Maynard MK, Gammon MG, Russell AC, Mathews AT, Cole SE, Zhu X, Phillips CB, Kwong JQ, Dodani SC, Leary SC, Cobine PA. The mammalian phosphate carrier SLC25A3 is a mitochondrial copper transporter required for cytochrome c oxidase biogenesis. J Biol Chem. 2018 Feb 9;293(6):1887-1896. PubMed Central ID: PMC5808751.
 * Zhu X, Boulet A, Buckley KM, Phillips CB, Gammon MG, Oldfather LE, Moore SA, Leary SC, Cobine PA. Mitochondrial copper and phosphate transporter specificity was defined early in the evolution of eukaryotes. Elife. 2021 Feb 16;10 PubMed Central ID: PMC7924939.
 * Horng YC, Cobine PA, Maxfield AB, Carr HS, Winge DR. Specific copper transfer from the Cox17 metallochaperone to both Sco1 and Cox11 in the assembly of yeast cytochrome c oxidase. J Biol Chem. 2004 Aug 20;279(34):35334-40. PubMed ID: 15199057.
 * Cobine PA, Pierrel F, Leary SC, Sasarman F, Horng YC, Shoubridge EA, Winge DR. The P174L mutation in human Sco1 severely compromises Cox17-dependent metallation but does not impair copper binding. J Biol Chem. 2006 May 5;281(18):12270-6. PubMed ID: 16520371.
 * Leary SC, Cobine PA, Kaufman BA, Guercin GH, Mattman A, Palaty J, Lockitch G, Winge DR, Rustin P, Horvath R, Shoubridge EA. The human cytochrome c oxidase assembly factors SCO1 and SCO2 have regulatory roles in the maintenance of cellular copper homeostasis. Cell Metab. 2007 Jan;5(1):9-20. PubMed ID: 17189203.

Personal life
Cobine and his wife have five children. His wife runs a successful custom cakes business called Sweet as Cakes in Auburn, Alabama.