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Extremely Hot Research! |
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The Cripps Laboratory |
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Our Research Interests |
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To Contact Us:
Phone: 505-277-5731 Fax: 505-277-0304 E-mail: rcripps@unm.edu |
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Development of an organism results from groups of cells making sequential cell fate decisions, whereby a naļve cell is eventually locked into a particular phenotype and function. Our laboratory is interested in defining basic genetic mechanisms by which these decisions are made, to allow the formation of complex structures and organs within the body. We study the formation of heart and skeletal muscle in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster, since the genes which fashion the muscle cells in the fly are highly similar to those functioning in vertebrates, including humans. |
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The Drosophila dorsal vessel is the cardiac organ which pumps blood around the body, and consists of a linear muscular tube. Our group has identified the cells which form valves allowing blood to flow into the heart, and we have shown that their formation depends upon a gene named svp which is similar to one required for atrium formation in mammalian hearts. We have also identified a special class of genes called Hox genes as those which place the valves in the correct location in the dorsal vessel. Hox genes are also known to impact heart development in humans thus we anticipate that we are uncovering in our model system a developmental process that will have broad relevance in higher animals. Our current research in this area is focused upon understanding more precisely how the valves of the heart form, and the genes that impact this process. We are also determining how master regulatory Hox genes directly affect expression of the svp gene, by defining the genetic elements which switch svp on or off during heart formation. |
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In the skeletal muscle lineage there are three major fiber types present in the adult which perform unique functions within the animal, such as flying, walking and breathing. The mechanisms by which these different muscle types arise from a uniform population of myoblasts is still not known, however understanding this process will help us to address how unique fiber types are formed with higher animals, in an analogous manner to the formation of slow or fast muscle types. We have recently shown that the adult muscles form only after an hormonal signal passes through the body, and that the muscle cells interpret this signal via a gene called twist, which is already expressed in their cells. We have also identified Mef2 as a muscle gene which is activated by this hormonal signal, and we showed that Mef2 is required for part of, but not all of, the formation of the adult muscles. We are currently trying to identify the additional hormone-induced genes which are required for the formation of the complex muscles of the adult. |
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Fall 2007 |