Steve was an MD/PhD student in the lab and studied the role of the SWI/SNF complex in yeast. He made a ts allele of SWI-2 and used it to show that the yeast complex is continuously necessary for transcription in yeast and that it plays a semi-redundant role with GCN5. With Steffan Ho he devised […]
Ivan, Weidong Wang and Uxtong Wang discovered the first neuron-specific chromatin remodeling complex, which we call nBAF (for neuronal complex of Brg/Brm associated factors). They found that the brain specific complex is defined by BAF53b, an actin-related protein found only in neurons. Ivan went to University of Washington. He can be reached at: iolave@ispwest.com.
Feng worked with Isabella Graef to show that signaling through Calcineurin and NFATc3 and c4 were essential for the patterning of the vascular system (Cell 2001). He found that NFAT signaling locally represses VEGF and other secreted molecules to organize the pattern of blood vessels in the vertebrate embryo. He is an Assistant Professor at […]
Mimi and Tian Chi worked together as a husband-wife team on defining the developmental roles of the mammalian SWI/SNF or BAF complex in both T cell development and neuronal development. Tian Chi: Tian set out to understand the biologic actions of the SWI/SNF-like BAF complex. By making mice with mutations in the DNA binding domain […]
Minggui made mice expressing NFATc1 at slightly higher levels in the nucleus and showed that slightly tipping the balance of nuclear NFATc1 will result in dramatic phenotypes in the developing mouse; leading to a fantastic increase in bone formation and to spontaneous T cell activation. His work indicates that the second signal (through CD28) required […]
Joel made mice with a conditional allele of calcineurin B1, the ubiquitous regulatory component of calcinerin phosphatase complexes. He found that calcineurin was essential for positive but not negative selection of thymocytes. In addition, he worked with Ching-pin Chang in the lab to show that calcineirn and NFATc proteins are essential for a regulatory exchange […]
CP came into the laboratory to understand the role of NFAT signaling in heart development. He and Joel Neilson found that calcineurin-NFATc3/c4 signaling function within a specific region of the myocardium to help pick the site of valve development by repressing the VEGF gene locally. Surprisingly, they found that calcineurin-NFATc1 is used two days later […]
Kryn was a graduate student from Developmental Biology. He developed a method to regulate the stability of proteins using small molecules that bind to a tag on the protein and allow it to fold to a stable state. He made stains of mice with this tag inserted into the GSK3b gene and with Hank Bayle […]
Jason came to our lab from Laura Kiessling’s laboratory. Laura was a graduate student of Stuart Schreiber, so Jason is a scientific grandson of Stuart. Jason did all of the chemistry and biophysics for the development of a new method of making inhibitors of protein-protein interactions (see Science 2004). His love of the midwest lead […]
Isabella initiated many new areas of research in our lab including work on the development of the nervous system and the development of the cardiovascular system. She demonstrated that the assembly and patterning of vessels in the mouse embryo requires calcineurin signaling through NFATc3/c4 (Cell 2001). Much of the role of NFAT signaling appears to […]