Stem cells foster the development and tissue homeostasis of multicellular eukaryotes. Therefore insights into their unique attributes will advance our understanding of cell and developmental biology. In addition, successful stem cell based therapies, which hold extraordinary promise for treating a wide range of human diseases, will depend on a detailed knowledge of how these cells are established and maintained in vivo. Many studies highlight the importance of extrinsic factors in stem cell maintenance. However, non-stem cells are also capable of responding to these same signals, leaving open the question of what distinguishes stem cells from their differentiated neighbors.
Emerging evidence suggests that stem cells are intrinsically programmed. This stem cell program depends on both chromatin organization and translational repression. Our goal is to gain key insights into each of these regulatory mechanisms, using Drosophila as a model system. Drosophila has at least six stem cell populations in three different tissues. Available reagents and techniques make fruit flies a fantastic system with which to study stem cell biology.
In the past, I carried out a large-scale protein trap screen designed to identify proteins that regulate stem cell maintenance. Lines generated in the screen reveal the expression pattern and sub-cellular localization of tagged proteins. They can also be used to observe protein dynamics in vivo, generate mutations in genes of interest and provide a tag for biochemical purification. We are currently characterizing several different proteins that exhibit high levels of expression in stem cells using a number of experimental approaches.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Stem cells
Chromatin
Translational repression
Drosophila
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Buszczak M., Paterno S. and Spradling A.C., "The histone H2B ubiquitin protease Scrawny is required in diverse Drosophila stem cells" in prep,
Buszczak M, Paterno S, Lighthouse D, Bachman J, Plank J, Owen S, Skora A, Nystul T, et al., "The Carnegie protein trap library: a versatile tool for Drosophila developmental studies" Genetics, 175:1505-31, 2007
QuiOones-Coello AT, Petrella LN, Ayers K, Melillo A, Mazzalupo S, Hudson AM, Wang S, Castiblanco C, Buszczak M, Hoskins RA, and Cooley L, "Exploring strategies for protein trapping in Drosophila" Genetics, 175:1089-104, 2007
Buszczak M and Spradling AC., "Searching chromatin for stem cell identity" Cell, 125:233-6, 2006
Buszczak M and Spradling AC., "The Drosophila P68 RNA helicase regulates transcriptional deactivation by promoting RNA release from Chromatin" Genes Dev, 20:977-89, 2006
Point and right click (click and hold for Mac users) your mouse onand select "Save this link (or target) as..." option to save the file to your local computer.
and select "Save this link (or target) as..." option to save the file to your local computer.