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MCB Faculty with Primary Affiliation in Cell Biology

  • Thomas T. Chen , Professor, Molecular and Developmental Endocrinology
    • Structure and regulation of growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor genes and actions of their gene products in finfish and shellfish; application transgenic finfish and shellfish in aquaculture; molecular toxicology.

  • Charles Giardina , Associate Professor. Cell signalling and gene regulation
    • Mechanisms of aberrant gene expression in colon cancer cells.  Effects of chromatin structure on cellular genetic programming.

  • David Goldhamer , Associate Professor. Developmental Biology, Muscle Development, Adult Stem Cells
    • Research Interests: Regulation of cell fates in mammalian embryos. Transcriptional regulation and function of skeletal muscle regulatory factors. Muscle stem cell function and plasticity, muscle regeneration in injured and diseased muscle, cell biology of heterotopic bone formation in human disease. .

  • David A. Knecht , Professor, Cell and Developmental Biology Graduate Program Head .
    • Molecular genetics of the actin cytoskeleton.
      • Actin binding proteins: Cell motility driven by the actin cytoskeleton is important for normal development, proper functioning of the immune system, and are altered in metastatic cancer cells. Our lab uses molecular genetics and GFP/RFP fluorescent protein fusions in conjunction with advanced microscopy techniques to visualize actin dynamics in mammalian cells and Dictyostelium amoebae and to construct mutant cell lines with altered cytoskeletal structural proteins. Models for several human diseases associated with actin binding protein mutations are being created.
      • Sliicosis: Silica inhalation causes lung inflammation leading to silicosis. The mechanism by which macrophages recognize and take up silica particles and the reason the particles cause apoptotic death is being investigated.
      • Macropinocytosis: A collection of mutants with alterations in macropinocytosis has been created in order to understand the molecular basis of this important process. Mutated genes are currently being isolated and characterized.
    • Visit the Knecht Laboratory Homepage

  • Dr. Juliet Lee , Associate Professor. Cytoskeleton and cell motility
    • Cell movement is a highly complex phenomenon which is itself composed of several other "motile processes", such as protrusion, adhesion, contraction and detachment. The overall aim of my work is to understand how molecular mechanisms and biomechanical properties are integrated at the cellular level to produce movement. This requires learning how the dynamic behavior of the actin cytoskeleton and cell - substratum adhesion formation is regulated both spatially and temporally. I am particularly interested in the mechano - chemical regulation of cell movement as this is important for understanding the interrelationship between molecular processes, force production, cell morphology and movement.
      So far my studies have focused primarily on fish epithelial keratocytes because their rapid, relatively simple mode of movement is best suited for discerning the basic principles which relate molecular events to whole cell movement. I use a combination of techniques including fluorescence video microscopy, calcium imaging, photoactivation, and force detection assays to observe molecular, cellular and biophysical aspects of cell movement.

  • Dr. Michael Lynes , Professor. Immunobiology, immunotoxicology, Metallothionein function
    • Biochemical regulation of anergy. Role of metallothionein in the regulation of stress-mediated immunomodulation, Real-time biosensors. Leukocyte chemotaxis and phagocytosis.
      Visit the Lynes Lab Web site
  • Philip I. Marcus , Professor. Virology
    • Animal virology and the interferon system; molecular basis of the development of interferon induction and action; interferon inducibility as a phylogenetic marker of viruses.
  • Wolf-Dieter Reiter , Professor.
    • Biochemical genetics of plant cell wall synthesis using Arabidopsis thaliana as a model system; regulation of nucleotide sugar interconversion pathways; plant cell wall ultrastructure.
      Visit the Reiter Laboratory Web Site

  • Margaret J. Sekellick , Professor-in -Residence. Virology
    • Animal virology and the interferon system: cloning and genomic organization of avian interferons; development of the interferon system during embryonic growth; recombinant avian interferons as antiviral agents.

  • Adam Zweifach , Associate Professor. Immune Cell Signalling
    • Research in my lab is focused on the role of intracellular calcium signaling in the function of T lymphocytes.  We are currently using a combination of molecular, biochemical and functional approaches- including fluoresence microscopy and flow cytometry- to investigate three areas.  First, what are the calcium-dependent effector proteins involved in cytototoxic T lymphocyte lytic granule exocytosis?  Second, what SNARE proteins and synaptotagmins are involved in CTL granule exocytosis and cytokine secretion by helper T cells? Third, is activation of the calcium-dependent phosphatase calcineurin sufficient to promote cytokine secretion from helper cells, or are there multiple calcium-dependent steps?

Other MCB Faculty Affiliated with Cell Biology

  • J. Peter Gogarten , Professor.
    • Evolution of structure and function of ATPases/ATPsynthases; the early evolution of eukaryotic cells; molecular evolution of membrane proteins; horizontal gene transfer and gene duplications.
  • Debra A. Kendall , Professor.
    • Identification of the physical properties of proteins which enhance membrane-associated processes. Systems under study include the signal peptide which facilitates transport of alkaline phosphatase in E. coli and the porin, PhoE, which is a channel for diffusion of anions. Her approach to these systems uses mutagenesis and gene construction methods to insert new structural segments within the protein. The mutant sequences are designed to probe the role of conformation, the pattern of hydrophobic and hydrophilic residues, folding patterns and overall topology. The properties of these mutant sequences are evaluated in vivo and by physical analyses in model systems.
  • Kenneth M. Noll , Associate Professor.
    • Physiology and genetics of extremely thermophilic bacteria and archaea; early mechanisms of energy metabolism as exemplified by the use of elemental sulfur as an external electron acceptor; nature and evolution of the chromosomes of microorganisms.
  • Dr. Rachel J. Waugh O'Neill , Assitant Professor
    • We use molecular and cytogenetic techniques to study the genetics of centromere determinance; centromere function and evolution; chromosome evolution; speciation and hybrid dysgenesis in several model systems, including Mus, Peromyscus and several marsupial genera. We are also using these techniques to study species-specific placental development and evolution with respect to retroelement load; the evolution of transposable elements and retroviruses; and, the epigenetic effectors of gene expression and chromosome structure.
  • Linda Strausbaugh , Professor.
    • Structure, function, and evolution of multigene families. Structure and evolution of histone gene repeats in Drosophila; investigation of replication-dependent histone gene regulation in synchronized cells using transfection of in vitro mutagenized genes; applied aspects of DNA identification technology.

  • Carolyn M. Teschke , Associate Professor.
    • Biochemical, biophysical, and mutational analysis of protein folding in vivo and in vitro; interaction of folding intermediates with molecular chaperones; virus assembly.

  • Ping Zhang , Associate Professor Molecular genetics
    • Chromosome structure and gene expression; The Y chromosome and spermatogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster; P-element insertional mutagenesis.

Emeritus Faculty

  • Lawrence E. Hightower , Professor. Cell Stress
    • Inducible molecular and cellular defenses against trauma; cellular stress response; heat shock response.
  • Hans Laufer , Professor, Endocrinology
    • Gene regulation during development and reproduction; hormonal and molecular interactions; comparative endocrinology of invertebrates.