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University of Bombay, Bombay, India | B.Sc., Microbiology |
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University of Bombay, Bombay, India | M.Sc., Microbiology |
| University of California at Berkeley | M.A., Physiology |
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Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, | Ph.D., Biomedical Sciences
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Tel: 210-562-5069
Email: smitho@uthscsa.edu
Research Interests
One hallmark of cellular aging in culture is the limited division of normal cells. We seek to understand the molecular and genetic basis for the loss of cell division in normal cells by studying abnormal human cells that have escaped from senescence and proliferate indefinitely (immortal).
We found that the MORF related genes, MRG15 and MRGX, encode proteins that are present in multiple nucleoprotein complexes and that the composition of other proteins in these complexes determines whether a gene promoter is activated or repressed. MRG15 also has been identified and implicated in cell cycle apoptosis and DNA repair in yeast, Drosophila, and human cells.
In my laboratory, we use multiple techniques (cell culture, protein chemistry, immunostaining and molecular techniques) in the analyses of the MORF4, MRG family of genes for their role in transcriptional regulation and cell senescence. |
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Histiological comparisons of neonatal wild-type (WT) and MRG -/- (null) mice. Results with the null mice support the hypothesis that MRG15 affects cell proliferation in many tissues and that it is required as a positive regulator for growth during mouse embryogenesis. These studies should allow us to identify additional endogenous target genes, which will aid in the identification of other potential functions of MRG15 in the maintenance of genomic integrity, immortalization, and tumor formation.
Tominaga et al., Mol. Cell. Biol., Vol. 25, 2005
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