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 How Stem Cell Fate Is Decided
Camilla Forsberg, Dept. of Biomolecular Engineering
Camila Forsberg's research group focuses on stem cell fate decisions that give rise to variant blood cell types. Are such decisions made by the stem cell itself, by its descendant multipotent progenitors, or both? To answer such questions, Forsberg's group conducts molecular lineage tracing of HSC differentiation in vivo. In order to elucidate the mechanisms of fate decisions, they employ global analyses, such as genome-wide gene expression analysis and chromatin remodeling assays. The ultimate goal of this research is to facilitate our ability to direct specific fates and improve clinical applications of hematopoietic and non-hematopoietic stem cell therapy. [More]
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 Innate Immune Responses to the Human Pathogen Yersinia pseudotuberculosis
Victoria Auerbuch Stone , Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology
Professor Auerbuch Stone’s research interests focus on how the mammalian innate immune system is able to recognize and respond to the human gut pathogen, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. The nature of the ensuing immune response should shape the extent to which Y. pseudotuberculosis can cause disease. The ability of the immune system to eliminate gut pathogens such as Y. pseudotuberculosis, yet maintain a healthy balance with beneficial commensal bacteria, is a particular interest of Dr. Auerbuch Stone’s. Dr. Auerbuch Stone and her colleagues recently discovered that cells of the immune system are able to distinguish between Y. pseudotuberculosis expressing a specialized secretion system and avirulent bacteria lacking this essential virulence determinant. How host cells are able to recognize only potentially harmful bacteria and the effect of this host-pathogen interaction on Y. pseudotuberculosis survival are current topics of investigation. In addition, the ability of eukaryotic cells to specifically respond to virulent bacteria will be used to screen for pathogen-targeted antibiotics. [ More] |
 Bacterial Pathogens Sense and Respond to Host Environments
Karen Ottemann, Dept. of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology
Karen Ottemann's laboratory investigates how bacteria translate chemical and physical cues in their environment into adaptive responses. Mistakes in sensation and subsequent gene expression by bacteria may result in their elimination by the immune response or peristaltic flow. Elucidation of such processes will hopefully lead to identification of anti-bacterial drug targets. Ottemann is particularly interested in the role of chemoreceptors and chemotaxis associated with the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. This pathogen infects some 3 billion humans and can lead to serious disease, including ulcers and cancer. Ottemann and her colleagues have discovered that chemotaxis aids multiple aspects of infection, and also can promote a host inflammatory response. [More] |
 Ex-vivo Survival Mechanisms Used by Vibrio cholerae between Epidemics
Fitnat Yildiz, Dept. of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology
Fitnat Yildiz's laboratory investigates signaling and regulatory networks of Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of the Asiatic cholera. She and her colleagues are particularly interested in those mechanisms that allow the pathogen to adapt to changes in its habitat. The bacteria's ability to survive in different growth modes in aquatic environments is closely linked to seasonal epidemics of cholera. Yildiz's laboratory is attempting to identify and characterize genes and processes associated with phase variations of the pathogen. Their results will be useful for prediction and control of epidemics of this devastating disease. [More] |
 Chromosome Structure and Function during Meiosis
Needhi Bhalla, Department of MCD Biology
The Bhalla lab is interested in the mechanisms that ensure that chromosomes segregate correctly during cell division, particularly in meiosis. During this specialized cell division, diploid cells give rise to haploid gametes, such as sperm and eggs, so that diploidy is restored by fertilization. Defects in meiosis can generate gametes and, therefore, embryos with the incorrect number of chromsomes. These aberrations in chromosome number, also referred to as aneuploidy, typically produce inviable embryos. It is estimated that 30% of human miscarriages are due to aneuploidy. In some cases, the presence of an extra copy of a chromosome can be tolerated by a human embryo but results in serious developmental disorders, such as Down and Klinefelters syndrome. [More] |
 Biochemistry and Cell Biology of Membrane Proteins
Barry Bowman, Dept. of MCD Biology
One third of the genes in all organisms encode membrane proteins, most of which transport molecules from one compartment to another. We use Neurospora crassa as our model organism. The complete genome has been sequenced for this filamentous fungus. It has 10,000 genes, twice the number in yeast, and a complete collection of knockout mutants is being generated. [More]
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 Cellular Interactions During Organogenesis and Tumorigenesis
Lindsay Hinck , Dept. MCD Biology
Lindsay Hinck is interested in how epithelial cells assemble into organs during development, and how the reverse process occurs during cancer when cells disassemble and metastasize to inappropriate locations. The lab studies two families of positional cues, called Slits and Netrins, which were originally identified in the nervous system, where they direct the construction of elaborate networks of neuronal connections. They focus on how these cues control the development of the mammary gland, and how loss of these cues during tumor progression contributes to breast cancer. Currently, the laboratory has projects in three areas. [More] |
 Mechanisms that Control Cell Division and Cell Growth
Doug Kellogg, Dept. of MCD Biology
Cells show extraordinary diversity in size and shape. The mechanisms by which cells control their growth and size are poorly understood and represent a fundamental unsolved problem in cell biology. The goal of the Kellogg laboratory's work is to elucidate these mechanisms. Their approach is to use biochemistry, genetics, and mathematical modeling to understand signaling networks that are required for control of cell size and cell growth. [More]
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 The Structure and Function of the Nuclear Pore Complex
Michael Rexach, MCD Biology
The nuclear pore complex (NPC) is a large protein structure embedded in the double-membrane of a cell's nucleus. This porin structure regulates all transport between the nucleoplasm and the cytoplasm of the cell. Research in the Rexach lab focuses on fundamental aspects of nucleocytoplasmic transport and on the architecture of the nuclear pore complex. [More]
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 Organelle Transport and Neurodegeneration
Bill Saxton, Dept. MCD Biology
The Saxton lab studies mechanisms that drive intracellular transport and cytoplasmic organization, using Drosophila as a model organism. To generate and maintain proper cytoplasmic order and thus their complex functions, cells use microtubules and force-generating motor proteins to transport RNAs, proteins, mitochondria and other organelles to appropriate locations. Neurons are especially dependent on such microtubule-based cytoplasmic transport, because their signaling functions rely on extraordinarily long cytoplasmic extensions (axons and dendrites) that require import of many components from their cell bodies ..... [More] |
 Regulation of Germ Cell Development in C. elegans
Professor Susan Strome, MCD Biology
Germ cells (the cells that give rise to eggs and sperm) have special properties. Their immortality allows them to be perpetuated from generation to generation, and their totipotency allows them to generate all of the diverse cell types of the body in each generation. The Strome lab investigates the molecular mechanisms used by germ cells to establish and maintain their identity, immortality, and totipotency. They study germ cells in the model organism C. elegans using a wide variety of approaches, including forward genetics, RNAi, imaging, molecular biology, biochemistry, and whole genome microarray-based technologies. Their current focus areas are control of gene expression in germ cells by regulation of chromatin, and control of RNA metabolism by germline-specific cytoplasmic "P granules"..... [More]
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 Cell Cycle, Cytoskeleton and Pathogenesis
Bill Sullivan, Dept. of MCD Biology
The Sullivan lab uses the Drosophila embryo as a model system to investigate the mechanisms that drive furrow invagination during cytokinesis. Through a combination of cellular and molecular genetic approaches, the Sullivan group has showed that furrow formation requires coordinated cell cycle regulated and endocytic-based vesicle recruitment. These studies have also identified a new role for cell cycle checkpoints in coordinating the nuclear cycle with cytokinesis. More recently, the lab has applied these approaches toward understanding the mechanisms by which the widespread intracellular insect pathogen, Wolbachia, influences host nuclear and cytoplasmic cell cycles. [More]
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 Cellular and Molecular Regulation of Antigen Presentation in Health and Disease
Martha Zuñiga, Department of MCD Biology
The Zúñiga lab is interested in the regulation of immune responses in health and disease. Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) molecules (called HLA molecules in humans) present self, tumor, and pathogen-derived antigens to the T cells. The presentation of MHC molecules in different cellular contexts is of paramount importance in determining immune responsiveness versus tolerance. One major project in the lab focuses on mechanisms of immunological tolerance to cutaneous antigens. We have found that skin-derived regulatory T cells can induce ..... [More] |
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