First name,Last name,Preferred title,Overview,Position,Department,Individual
Ira,Greenbaum,Professor,"The research in this laboratory is focused around questions concerning chromosomal rearrangement and it role(s) in vertebrate evolution. Although this usually involves assessments of intraspecific (populational) chromosomal polymorphism, the data are generally applicable to systematic interpretations and considerable attention is paid to the phylogenetic relationships and higher taxonomic patterns of chromosomal evolution. The systematic relationships of the species studied are typically used to establish the experimental design of the hypotheses tested. Our assessments of karyotypic rearrangement and chromosomal homology involve analyses of non-differentially stained and specifically- banded metaphase chromosomes. Although deer mice (Peromyscus) are our primary model, recent projects have also addressed cytogenetic questions in birds and reptiles. The laboratory contains complete facilities for light microscopy and imaging, tissue culturing and allozymic analyses.",Professor,Biology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n0fb98800
Luis,Garcia,Professor,"I am interested in understanding how behavioral states are regulated at the molecular and genetic level. My lab addresses this complex question in the well-studied nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Several physical aspects of this worm make it convenient for integrating whole organism system biology studies with genetic/molecular analysis of neurobiology and behavior. C. elegans is an anatomically simple organism; it is 1mm in size, and it contains ~ 1000 somatic cells, a third of which are neurons. The worm is also transparent, and thus every cell can be visualized by light microscopy. Behavioral mutants can be efficiently generated through standard chemical mutagenesis. In addition, gene functions involved in motivational and behavioral regulation can be determined by transgenic techniques.
My lab investigates the interplay between feeding and sex-specific mating behavior to understand how chemo/mechano-sensory and motor outputs are controlled under various physiological conditions. We study male mating by using genetics to de-construct this behavior into its fundamental sensory-motor components. We then use a combination of transgenics, pharmacology, classical genetics and laser microsurgery to understand how individual motor sub-behaviors are coordinated to produce gross behaviors during periods when the animal is food deprived, and when it is food satiated.",Professor,Biology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n4cd2f794
Lawrence,Griffing,Associate Professor,"I am testing the theory that the endoplasmic reticulum, ER is the circulatory network of the cell, connecting different organelles to each other, allowing them to share signals, lipids, and proteins.
I am particularly interested in how the cytoskeletal system of plants regulates the movement of the ER network. In interphase, the actinomyosin network drives movement of the ER, just as it drives the movement organelles through the cytoplasm in a process called cytoplasmic streaming, a phenomenon in plants, but not animal cells. Of the seventeen different myosin forms in plants, only six are involved in active cytoplasmic streaming. We are sorting out which of those six guide the different movements of the endoplasmic reticulum.
I am also interested in the nature of the nexus between the ER and other organelles, including the chloroplast, plasma membrane, and Golgi. I have recently shown that by photo-stimulating the nexus between the chloroplast and the ER, the directional flow within the ER can be reversibly altered. This ability to generate very localized ER stress may have application in a wide variety of fields - from finding cures for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's syndrome to developing crops that can better-tolerate physiological heat stress and drought.
Finally, I recently founded the company, Griffing Biologics LLC, which is based on the discovery of a novel, non-toxic pre-emergent herbicide that interferes with plant sterol metabolism. Other work examining the uptake of sterols indicates that it may get into the plant cells via plasma membrane-ER contact sites. We are pursuing the function of this transport in controlling the early stages of plant growth.",Associate Professor,Biology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/nd558069a
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