First name,Last name,Preferred title,Overview,Position,Department,Individual
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
Yinan,Wei,Professor,"We are interested in studying the interaction between microbes and host systems, in the context of antibiotic resistance, infection, and the innate immune response.",Professor,Cop - Pharmacy Practice,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n4bb89912
Narendra,Kumar,Associate Professor,"1. Obesity associated metabolic syndrome (MetS) is both a US and a worldwide epidemic and a major burden to healthcare system. Chronic low-grade inflammation (CLGI) is a well-established characteristic of the obese-human condition and though, the gastrointestinal (GI) mucosa is the first tissue that interacts with dietary components and luminal microbiota both of which are known to regulate obesity, the research on the role of GI-mucosa in obesity associated MetS is lacking. Findings from my lab support a key role of Janus kinase 3 (Jak3), a non-receptor tyrosine kinase, in intestinal and systemic CLGI associated obesity and diabetes in both an animal-model and in humans. Our publications, and unpublished data indicate that Jak3 regulates; colonic and systemic CLGI, and multiple symptoms of metabolic syndrome. Our goal is to determine the associated underlying mechanisms. Our current focus is on tissue-specific roles of Jak3 and associated signaling complexes in CLGI-onset as a precursor for; (a) obesity and diabetes, (b) Obesity and Alzheimer's disease, and (c) inflammatory bowel disease.
2. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that includes Crohn's disease and Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory condition of gastrointestinal tract. Annual death from these diseases are over 70,000.00, and the incidences of new cases have been rising over the years. Because the repairs of intestinal mucosa (Restitution) are compromised during IBD, the research focus of our lab is to dissect the roles of intestinal epithelial, intestinal immune cells and gut microbiota in mucosal restitution. Our lab was pioneered the functions of Jak3 in intestinal epithelial mucosa. We show that IL-2 (a cytokine produced during intestinal inflammation) promotes mucosal wound repair through Jak3 complexed with villin, ShcA, and ?-catenin. Studies are underway to define the tissue-specific Jak3-mediated signaling pathways that regulate CLGI as a precursor for the onset of IBD.",Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies||Associate Professor,Pharmaceutical Sciences||Pharmaceutical Sciences,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n5bcfc45e
Jayshree,Mishra,Research Assistant Professor,Role of drug transporter proteins in colonic mucosal innate immunity.
Post-translational modification of drug transporter proteins and its role in Multidrug resistance.
Biomarker development for colon cancer
Drug discovery for the treatment of breast cancer metastasis,Research Assistant Professor||Research Assistant Professor,Pharmaceutical Sciences||Pharmacy Practice,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n8c995b51
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