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- Worms in space |
The Department of Biological Sciences has a core group of scientists working with the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model eukaryotic microbial organism. This organism has a number of special attributes that make it uniquely attractive as an experimental system for the analysis of many features of cell structure and genetic function. S. cerevisiae is the pre-eminent eukaryote for genetic studies of many intracellular processes and was the first eukaryote with a fully sequenced genome. These features make this yeast the system of choice for many biologists interested in how life functions at the subcellular level. Since many of these basic processes are mechanistically conserved in higher eukaryotes, studies in yeast can reveal important new insights about cellular defects associated with human diseases. To the right we see an electron micrograph of the interior of a yeast cell; yeast affectionados will recognize membrane proliferation, which in this case has resulted from the overexpression of a membrane protein, work performed in the Brodsky lab. In the Department of Biological Sciences, our core interest group includes the following faculty members and associated interests: The Karen Arndt lab is studying the regulation of eukaryotic gene expression. Current projects focus on the mechanisms of transcription initiation and elongation. These two fundamental steps in the RNA polymerase II transcription cycle play central roles in the onset and development of human diseases such as cancer and AIDS. The Jeffrey Brodsky lab is investigating the properties of a group of cellular factors known as molecular chaperones, with a particular emphasis regarding their roles in protein transport, degradation, and folding, and their requirements during tumorigenesis. The Joseph Martens lab is interested in the role of active transcription in the regulation of other yeast genes. The Craig Peebles lab is interested in the mechanism of RNA splicing, with most current work focusing on the self-splicing group II introns that are found in several yeast mitochondrial genes. The William Saunders lab is interested in the mechanisms of cell division, primarily the activity of molecular motors and microtubules on chromosome movement. We are currently using this understanding developed in yeast to elucidate the defects of chromosome segregation in oral cancer cells in collaboration with Susanne Gollin at the School of Public Health. An additional project is a genomic approach to identifying and characterize meiotic proteins. In addition to the core faculty described above, the Yeast Special Interest group also interacts regularly with the faculty and laboratory groups working with yeast in the nearby Carnegie Mellon University Department of Biological Sciences, including Drs. Elizabeth Jones and John Woolford. There are also active interactions with faculty members of the University of Pittsburgh Medical School, such as Dr. Martin Schmidt in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry. The members of these laboratories meet once each month in an informal gathering (the Yeast Meeting) where graduate students and postdoctoral fellows can present their ongoing work and discuss current research developments. |
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