Chemotaxis plays a key role in immune response, wound healing, angiogenesis, and embryogenesis as well as mediating cancer metastasis. Research in Dictyostelium discoideum has shown that chemoattractants are sensed by GPCRs and rapidly trigger a complex network of signaling...
Auditory hair cells, located in the inner ear cochlea are critical for our ability to detect sound. In mammals, neural innervated hair cells come in two flavors: inner hair cells, which are our primary mechanoreceptor and relay sound information...
Understanding the cell biology of genomes and how nuclear architecture controls gene expression is necessary to truly understand biological processes such as development and disease. Although sequencing of the genome and comparative genome analysis have yielded insights into the...
A fundamental property of living cells is their extraordinary ability to sense and respond to a changing environment. In higher eukaryotes, malfunctioning of signaling networks has many devastating consequences such as cancer, diabetes or autoimmunity. Such consequences arise from...
Multi-cellular living organisms grow from single cells into multicellular, complex systems composed of highly diverse cell-types organized into tissues, which in turn form organs and organ systems. To organize and maintain this complex architecture, the organism must undergo constant...
Our work bridges from biochemical to preclinical translational studies to harness the power of glycobiology for therapeutic benefits. All cells are endowed with a diverse coat of glycans, their “glycocalyx,” which represents the face of the cell to the...
Our laboratory is interested in the molecular mechanisms and physiological roles of mitochondrial fusion. Mitochondria are highly dynamic and control their morphology by a balance of fusion and fission. The regulation of membrane fusion and fission generates a striking...
Our lab studies gene regulation in germ cells, with a focus on “RNA granules” which are phase-separated compartments rich in RNA and proteins. We have identified a family of intrinsically-disordered proteins that form gel-like assemblies that sequester RNA (RNA...
The central theme of our research is chemotherapy of malaria and African sleeping sickness. On a molecular basis, we are interested in understanding the mechanism of action for existing agents, and in identifying vulnerable targets for much-needed new chemotherapy....
For the 34 million people infected with HIV-1, the best current hope for avoiding the fatal consequences of the infection lies in treatment with antiretroviral therapy (ART), which consists of combinations of three drugs that inhibit specific steps in...