First name,Last name,Preferred title,Overview,Position,Department,Individual
Michael,Manson,Professor,"Bacteria have a limited behavioral repertoire. Their most conspicuous behavior is chemotaxis - the pursuit of molecules that are favorable to acquire and the avoidance of chemicals that are best to avoid. The simplicity of bacterial motility and chemotaxis and the amenability of the model species Escherichia coli to genetic, biochemical and physiological manipulation have facilitated rapid advances in understanding the molecular mechanisms of biological energy conversion and signal transduction.
Our laboratory studies the inputs and outputs of chemotaxis. Ligands interact with the periplasmic receptor domain of a chemotactic signal transducer that spans the cell membrane. This interaction is converted into an intracellular signal that is communicated to the flagella. Molecules can be sensed either by binding directly to a receptor or by first interacting with a periplasmic binding protein, which then interacts with a receptor.",Professor||Professor,Biology||Biochemistry and Biophysics,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/ne190242a
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
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