 |
|
|
|
 Genome Bioinformatics: Comparative Sequence Analysis of Mammalian Genomes
David Haussler, Dept. of Biomolecular Engineering
Dr. Haussler's research lies at the interface of mathematics, computer science, and molecular biology. He has focused on computational analysis and classification of DNA, RNA, and protein sequences. As a collaborator on the public Human Genome Project, his team posted the first publicly available computational assembly of the human genome sequence on the Internet, and it now maintains UCSC's Genome Browser, which is used extensively in biomedical research. [More]
|
 Chromosome Structure and Function during Meiosis
Needhi Bhalla, Dept. 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] |
 The Dynamics and Function of Chromatin Structure in Gene Regulation
Hinrich Boeger, MCD Biology
Eukaryotic organisms (plants, fungi and animals belong to this group) package their genomes by spooling their DNA around basic protein cores. The spools are called nucleosomes, and are one of the critical features that distinguish eukaryotic cells from their bacterial relatives. Similar to beads on a string, nucleosomes form in regular intervals on the DNA. Such strings of nucleosomes (chromatin) fold up to higher levels of compaction. Thus, nucleosomes serve as general inhibitors of gene expression by limiting access of the transcription machinery and its regulatory proteins to the DNA. Consequently, chromatin structures must locally unfold to allow genes to be expressed. Research in Hinrich Boeger's lab focuses on the unfolding of chromatin structures in the context of gene regulatory events. [More] |
 How Chromatin Influences Transcription
Grant Hartzog, Dept. of MCD Biology
Grant Hartzog's laboratory investigates the roles of proteins that regulate the rate of transcription elongation - i.e. how quickly RNA polymerases travel along and transcribe genes into RNA. Many normal cellular genes are known to be regulated at the level of elongation, and the HIV virus specifically co-opts normal transcription elongation factors to regulate its own replication. Thus, understanding how transcription elongation is controlled is important for an understanding of both normal and abnormal gene expression. [More]
|
 Transcriptional Silencing and Insulators
Rohinton Kamakaka, Dept. of MCD Biology
Rohinton Kamakaka is interested in how physical and functional organization of chromatin influences gene regulation. His lab focuses on the mechanism by which the genome is partitioned into structural and functional units. Using molecular and genetic analysis, coupled with biochemical experiments, the group is presently investigating the architecture of silenced chromatin domains, as well as the mechanism by which chromatin domains are delimited. [More]
|
 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 ..... [More]
|
 Regulation of Chromatin Structure and Gene Expression
John Tamkun, Dept. of MCD Biology
The Tamkun lab investigates regulation of chromatin's high order structure and its role in gene expression. Composed of DNA and proteins, chromatin's ability to fold enables the eukaryotic genome to be packaged into an extremely small space inside the nucleus of the cell. Proper transcription and replication of the genome also depend upon precise regulation of these dynamic structures, with defects in these processes believed to underly many human diseases. [More]
|
|
