Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a cellular lifestyle change that produces highly invasive cells that can migrate long distances in the body. These processes are critical for normal embryonic development but are often reactivated in disease states such as cancer...
Single cell gene molecular profiling has demonstrated that cell classification requires more than a simple collection of markers. Current approaches do not account for the dynamic nature of cell states and inherent variation in cell types. This is especially...
The evolution of multicellularity occurred hand in hand with the diversification of cell types with disparate morphologies and functions. This segregation of function across different cell types enabled astounding animal complexity; but at the same time, extreme specializations of...
Redox regulation plays a central role in signal transduction processes operating in the brain. Aberrant redox signaling is a hallmark of several neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and various Ataxias. It...
Copper plays an essential role in human physiology. It serves as a cofactor to key metabolic enzymes that are required for respiration, neurotransmitter biosynthesis, detoxification of radicals, blood clotting, connective tissue formation, and many others processes. Through currently unknown...
Understanding how the information in the genome is utilized is one of the central questions in modern biology. It has become clear that a critical level of gene regulation occurs through the chemical modification of both the DNA itself...
The goal of my research program is to answer a fundamental biological question: how is the genome properly interpreted to coordinate the diversity of cell types observed during neuronal development? We are focused on the acquisition of specific cellular...
My laboratory is actively engaged in discovering and defining cell signaling pathways that lead to either neuronal survival or neuronal death. We have characterized neuronal injury and survival pathways in fly, mouse and human models of Parkinson’s disease and...
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...
Eukaryotic cells package their genomes in the form of chromatin, which is comprised of histone proteins and DNA. Modification of chromatin by chemical marks such as methylation and acetylation affects how cellular machineries interpret the genome. The Taverna laboratory...