First name,Last name,Preferred title,Overview,Position,Department,Individual
Bruce,Riley,Professor,"My lab studies inner ear development in zebrafish. A prominent feature of our research is to investigate how cell-cell signaling and downstream gene-interactions control development. One project in the lab focuses on how cell signaling regulates ectodermal patterning during gastrulation to establish the otic placode, the precursor of the inner ear. Our recent work shows that localized Fgf signaling is especially critical for inducing formation of the otic placode, and members of the Pax2/5/8 family of transcription factors are important mediators of Fgf signaling. During later stages of inner ear development, we are exploring how sensory hair cells and neurons are regulated. Our studies address how these cells initially form, how they are genetically maintained, and how they become specialized for hearing vs. balance. We are also investigating how zebrafish can replace dead and damaged hair cells, an ability that mammals have lost. The inability to regenerate hair cells explains why humans show progressive irreversible hearing loss as we age. It is hoped that activating or augmenting human homologs of genes shown to operate in zebrafish might help restore hearing and balance in humans.",Professor,Biology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n0dbb8253
Rodolfo,Aramayo,Associate Professor,"My current research primarily focuses on understanding the organization, distribution, and comparison of information in Biological Systems. Our work encompasses two key levels of investigation:
Molecular Genetics: We employ the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa as a model organism to uncover and comprehend the intricate molecular components responsible for sequence-based comparisons between homologous chromosomes, leading to the initiation of Meiotic Silencing, a phenomenon driven by RNA-mediated processes. Currently, our primary focus centers on the exploration of whether genes recognized for their significance in Meiotic Transvection/Silencing also contribute to the occurrence of Repeat Induced Point Mutation (RIP) phenomena.
Computational Analysis: We are developing novel computational pipelines dedicated to detecting sequence variations within related genomes. We are particularly intrigued by the prospect of simplifying (i.e., digitizing) the information present in DNA, RNA, and Proteins so as to simplify its manipulation and analysis. We think that digitizing emerging genomic data will not only enable us to use this data effectively but also to integrate it into Artificial Intelligence, Data Clustering, and Image Recognition Algorithms, in ways not done before. We posit that this process of converting biological features into digital equivalents has the potential to simplify genomic information, making it easier to uncover previously unnoticed patterns through complex computational comparisons. This approach has already yielded promising results by revealing unexpected informational patterns across various organisms' chromosomes. We believe that it will streamline and enhance our ability to comprehend different cellular and organismal states. Moreover, it holds significant promise in revolutionizing our understanding of diseases, particularly Cancer and Metagenomics. This informational perspective also contributes to our comprehension of genome evolution, especially in the field of comparative genomics and microbial metagenomics.",Associate Professor,Biology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n14287b36
Deborah,Bell-Pedersen,Professor,"Research in the Bell-Pedersen lab focuses on determining how the circadian clock functions in organisms to regulate daily rhythms in gene expression, behavior, and physiology. The molecular clock in higher eukaryotes involves a master clock in the brain regulating clocks in peripheral tissues, posing significant obstacles for understanding circadian output mechanisms. Thus, a major strength of our work is using a single-celled model eukaryote, Neurospora crassa, to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of rhythmic gene expression and protein synthesis. Clock dysfunction in humans is associated with a wide range of diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, metabolic disorders, mental illness, sleep disorders, and aging. In addition, daily changes in metabolism and cell division rates influence the efficacy and toxicity of many pharmaceuticals, including cancer drugs. Therefore, knowing how clocks work to control rhythmic gene expression, and what they regulate, is critical for the development of therapeutics. Research to understand clock-controlled rhythmic gene expression has focused primarily on transcriptional mechanisms, and little was known about posttranscriptional control. We discovered that the clock regulates highly conserved translation initiation and elongation factors, tRNA synthetase levels, and ribosome heterogeneity. This regulation determines what mRNAs are rhythmically translated and the accuracy of the translation process (translation fidelity). We are capitalizing on these exciting discoveries to determine how the clock regulates translation fidelity. These studies will provide the foundation for understanding the impact of daily rhythms in translation fidelity on protein diversity beyond what is encoded for in the genome.",Professor and Associate Department Head,Biology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n2a2bfb97
Thomas,Mcknight,Professor and Head,"My lab is currently investigating mechanisms that regulate telomerase activity in plants. We previously showed that the pattern of telomerase expression in plants is remarkably similar to the pattern seen in humans, despite fundamental differences in development between plants and animals. Telomerase is abundantly expressed in reproductive organs but is undetectable in most vegetative organs (Fitzgerald et al., 1996). Additionally, telomerase can be induced in leaves and other vegetative organs by exposure to exogenous auxin.
To isolate genes that regulate telomerase, we screened a large population of activation tagged lines of Arabidopsis thaliana, and found that several lines that ectopically express telomerase in leaves. The first line we characterized over-expressed a gene encoding a small zinc finger transcription factor we designated TELOMERASE ACTIVATOR 1 (Ren et al., 2004). This factor does not bind to the promoter for TERT, which encodes the catalytically active subunit of telomerase. Instead, it binds to and activates transcription of BT2, a gene encoding a component of a ubiquitin ligase (Ren et al., 2007). Our working model is that the BT2 ubiquitin ligase marks a telomerase repressor for destruction, thereby allowing expression of telomerase. Efforts in the lab are currently focused on identifying the presumed telomerase repressor protein and other proteins that interact with BT2.",Professor and Head,Biology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n5c3b294a
Paul,Hardin,Distinguished Professor,"A diverse array of organisms including prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbes, plants, and animals display daily rhythms in physiology, metabolism and/or behavior. These rhythms are not passively driven by environmental cycles of light and temperature, but are actively controlled by endogenous circadian clocks that are set by environmental cycles, keep time in the absence of environmental cues, and activate overt physiological, metabolic and behavioral rhythms at the appropriate time of day. This remarkable conservation of circadian clock function through evolution suggests that maintaining synchrony with the environment is of fundamental importance. Our understanding of the circadian clock is particularly important for human health and well-being. The clearest examples of circadian clock dysfunction are those that result in abnormal sleep-wake cycles, but clock disturbances are also associated with other ailments including epilepsy, cerebrovascular disease, depression, and seasonal affective disorder. The realization that disorders of the sleep-wake cycle such as Familial Advanced Sleep Phase Syndrome can result from alterations in clock gene function underscores the clinical importance of understanding the molecular organization of the circadian system.
Work in my laboratory focuses on defining the molecular mechanisms that drive circadian clock function in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. We previously found that the core timekeeping mechanism is based on core and interlocked transcriptional feedback loops. Our studies currently focus on (1) defining post-translational regulatory mechanisms that operate in the core loop to set the 24 hour period, (2) determining whether interlocked loops are important for circadian timekeeping and/or output, (3) understanding how circadian oscillator cells are determined during development, and (4) defining mechanisms that control rhythms in olfactory and gustatory physiology and behavior.",Distinguished Professor,Biology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/nf27056c4
Richard,Gomer,Distinguished Professor,"Our laboratory is working on three areas of biomedicine, trying to move observations from basic research into the clinic. First, we are studying how the sizes of tissues and tumors are regulated, and how this can be manipulated for therapeutic purposes. As a model system, we are using the simple eukaryote Dictyostelium discoideum, which allows us to combine techniques such as biochemistry, genetics, computer modeling, and cell biology to study tissue size regulation. We have found that a secreted protein as well as the unusual molecule polyphosphate are signals in negative feedback loops that inhibit Dictyostelium cell proliferation, and we are studying the signal transduction pathway to understand similar mechanisms in humans.
Second, we are studying how some secreted proteins can make cells move away from the source of the signal. We found such a signal (called a chemorepellent) in Dictyostelium, and then found a similar signal in humans. We are working to understand the signal transduction pathway for both. The human signal repels neutrophils, and we found that this can be used therapeutically in mouse models of neutrophil-driven diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and acute respiratory distress syndrome.
Third, we have found that a human blood protein called Serum Amyloid P (SAP) regulates a key step in the formation of scar tissue as well as the formation of the scar-like lesions in fibrosing diseases such as congestive heart failure and pulmonary fibrosis. We are studying this mechanism, and a biotech company (Promedior, now sold to Roche) we co-founded is testing SAP as a therapy for fibrosis in patients in a Phase 3 trials.",Distinguished Professor,Biology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/nf41f3898
Jerome,Menet,Associate Professor,"Most organisms from bacteria to humans exhibit 24-hours rhythms in their biochemistry, physiology and behavior. Best exemplified by the sleep/wake cycle, these rhythms are remarkably widespread and include in humans hormonal (e.g., melatonin, insulin, cortisol), metabolic (e.g., glucose, cholesterol), physiological and behavioral oscillations. In fact, most biological functions are rhythmic and are set to perform optimally at the most appropriate time of the day. For example, the human digestion process performs better during the day when we are supposed to eat.
These circadian rhythms are generated by ""molecular clocks"", which consist of a few ""clock genes"" interacting in feedback loops, and which drive the rhythmic expression of a large number of genes, i.e. ~10% of the transcriptome in any tissues. This wide impact of clock genes in regulating gene expression is underscored by the surprisingly large number of pathologies developed by clock-deficient mice. In addition to being arrhythmic, these mice indeed develop pathologies as diverse as mania-like behaviors, learning and memory defects, depression, drug addiction, insomnia, metabolic diseases, arthropathy, hematopoiesis defects and cancers.
Research in our lab aims at characterizing how circadian clocks and clock genes regulate gene expression to provide insights into how and why clock dysfuntion leads to a wide spectra of pathologies. To this end, we are using a wide-range of molecular and biochemical techniques to investigate the circadian clock function at the genome-wide level (e.g., next-generation sequencing). We are currently extending some of our recent results and focus on 1) how clock genes rhythmically regulate chromatin environment and 2) the mechanisms involved in rhythmic post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression.",Associate Professor,Biology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/nf680fb91
Uel,Mcmahan,Professor,"McMahan and his research group provide one of the cornerstones for Texas A&M's new Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building and its related teaching and research efforts. His work focuses on how the nervous system's synapses form in the embryo and function in the adult in various animal species. It relies on high-resolution imaging, chemical characterization and experimental manipulation of specific macromolecules and organelles, which altogether provide insights unobtainable via any other approach. The findings bear directly on the problems of understanding the molecular basis of human brain diseases and restoring brain function after trauma.",Professor,Biology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/nfc3672e7
Matthew,Sachs,Professor,"Understanding the mechanisms by which upstream open reading frames (uORFs) in mRNA transcripts control gene expression is currently the major focus of my laboratory. A substantial component of this work is focused on the uORF-encoded fungal arginine attenuator peptide (AAP). The major goal of this work is to understand the mechanism by which a nascent peptide encoded by this uORF controls the movement of ribosomes on mRNA and regulates gene expression. Control mechanisms mediated by uORFs and nascent peptides exist in mammals, fungi, plants, viruses, and bacteria, but relatively little is known of the molecular details of such control. The AAP is encoded by a uORF in the 5?-leader regions of mRNAs specifying the first enzyme in fungal arginine (Arg) biosynthesis. Synthesis of the AAP rapidly reduces gene expression in response to Arg. AAP-mediated regulation is observed in vivo in both Neurospora crassa and Saccharomyces cerevisiae and in vitro, using fungal, plant and animal extracts. The nascent AAP causes the ribosome to stall when the concentration of Arg is high.",Professor,Biology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/nfe74574c