In general, my lab is addressing several questions with respect to photoreceptor cell morphogenesis: What are the molecular mechanisms controlling the initiation of rhabdomere biogenesis and regulating the growth and shaping of the rhabdomeres? What are the cellular mechanisms required for rhabdomere maintenance? Are all rhabdomeres created the same way - what molecular mechanisms exist creating the diversity in rhabdomere structure, organization, and opsin expression? Can rhabdomere morphogenesis serve as a platform to understand human retinal disease? Currently we are focused on the following three areas.
Research:
- Photoreceptor cell morphogenesis
- Mutational Analysis - Isolating and characterizing genes required for rhabdomere biogenesis.
- Evo-Devo - Defining the transcriptional network required for rhabdomeric photoreceptor cell function and morphogenesis. n compartments, the rhabdomeres and ciliated outer-segments?
Projects:
- Transcriptional Control of Differentiation
- Models for Retinal Degeneration
- Developmental Mechanisms Conferring Adaptive Transitions in the Evolution of Compound Eyes.
Research Interests:
- developmental mechanisms and regulation in eukaryotic systems; eukaryotic cell biology; cytoskeleton and signaling evolution
Subject Area:
Research Interests
- developmental mechanisms and regulation in eukaryotic systems; eukaryotic cell diology; cytoskeleton and signaling evolution
Subject Area
