Biology: Frizzled receptors in development and disease Our laboratory has focused for the past two decades on a large family of cell-surface receptors called Frizzled. This name refers to the appearance of fruit flies in which the receptor...
The outcome of most parasitic relationships is decided by an elaborate series of events involving hundreds of proteins. Understanding this interaction requires the analysis of the molecular mechanisms operating in both organisms and the causal relationships acting at the...
Our lab is interested in the role that chemosensation plays in regulating physiological processes, particularly in the kidney and the cardiovascular system. We have found that sensory receptors (olfactory receptors, taste receptors, and other G-protein coupled receptors) are expressed...
My laboratory is interested in the molecular mechanisms by which cells interpret signals from their environment that instruct them to proliferate, differentiate, or die by apoptosis. This process is of fundamental importance in the development and function of the...
The current research focus of my laboratory is investigating the olfactory system of Anopheles mosquitoes. We have developed new strains of Anopheles mosquitoes, utilizing the Q-system we originally developed for use in Drosophila, to explore how living Anopheles mosquitoes...
Molecular Biology and Physiology of Ion Transport Chloride is the most abundant free negatively charged ion in the body. Chloride channels are cell-membrane embedded proteins, allowing the movement of chloride in and out of the cells. Defects in chloride...
Research topics: Cryo-electron microscopy, membrane proteins, glutamate receptors, protein homeostasis We are interested in the structural and biochemical underpinnings of neurotransmission and neurodegeneration, as well as the homeostasis of the proteins contributing to these processes. Primarily, we will be...
Messenger RNA (mRNA) translation by the ribosome represents the final step on a complicated molecular dance from DNA to protein. Though classically considered a decipherer that translates our 64-word genetic code into a proteome of astonishing complexity, recent work...
Our research seeks to map and engineer cell fate using synthetic biology and genomics approaches. To accomplish this objective, we develop: (A) molecular technologies that write cellular histories into their genomes, (B) sequencing strategies that read out written information...
The central theme of my research is to understand how mechanical actions feedback to biochemical pathways in cellular processes, and how such mechanochemical crosstalk among key cellular players governs spatial-temporal regulation and shapes cell functions. I confront these challenges...