Research Interests:
Our research focuses on hematopoietic growth factors, a group of acidic glycoproteins required for blood cell growth and development. More specifically, having cloned and characterized the critical regulator of megakaryocyte and platelet formation, thrombopoietin, we have studied several aspects of its physiology and pathology. First, we have investigated the structure-function relationships of the hormone. A second major area of our research interest is in the regulation of hematopoietic growth factor gene expression, specifically the way in which low platelet counts lead to increased hormone levels. Our laboratory is presently employing both animal models and molecular biologic techniques to answer this and other physiologic questions. Finally, the laboratory has several projects designed to better understand the physiology of stem cell and megakaryocyte development. We are using mutant thrombopoietin receptors to study the pathways by which the hormone signals proliferation and differentiation, and confirming in vitro results using knockout and transgenic technologies. We are studying the molecular mechanisms of endomitosis, the process by which megakaryocytes become polyploid. Hopefully, we will better understand this enigmatic process, and provide additional insights into normal mechanisms of cell cycle control. And we study how thrombopoietin leads to the self-renewal and expansion of hematopoietic stem cells. Our ultimate goal is to develop a molecular road map to better understand the processes that lead hematopoietic stem cells to commit to the megakaryocyte lineage, and then to differentiate into platelet producing cells. In so doing we hope to develop novel therapeutic approaches to disorders of blood cell production.
Track(s):
MCB
Molecular Pharmacology
BMS Focus Areas:
Cancer Biology
Developmental Biology
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