Research activity and significant projects Recently, my laboratory identified a novel endoplasmic reticulum protein
(MESD) that is indispensable for mammalian embryonic development. MESD function is essential for folding and localization of the low-density lipoprotein receptor related family (LRPs). We hypothesize that the embryonic defects present in mesd deficient embryos stem in part from a defect in WNT signal transduction resulting from the failure to direct the WNT co-receptors LRP5 and LRP6 to the cell surface.

LRPs mediate diverse cellular processes ranging from cargo transport to signal transduction, and have been implicated in a wide variety of diseases including but not limited to Osteoporosis, Atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's, Cancer, and Diabetes. Our in vitro studies provide convincing evidence that MESD will be essential for trafficking all members of this receptor family as well as other proteins that share the beta-propeller/EGF protein domain.

Ongoing research my laboratory addresses:

1. the molecular mechanism by which MESD promotes trafficking of the LRP receptors,
2. the role of mesd in development of the mammalian embryo (with focus on polarity, growth and differentiation, and proliferation of stem cells), in addition we are using conditional knockout and transgenic approaches to determine whether
3. mesd mutations could be a contributing factor to LRP related
   diseases. Finally,
4. we are developing Zebrafish and C.elegans models that can be used to identify genetic modifiers of mesd phenotypes.
   

Top of Page