Research Interests
Our laboratory is interested in understanding how the cell cycle is regulated in the context of organismal development. We are using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a model system. The adult C. elegans has only 959 somatic cells, yet has multiple tissues, including muscle, skin, neurons, and intestine. Somatic cell divisions are developmentally programmed and largely invariant, thereby allowing detailed analysis of individual cell divisions through development. We are currently focusing on understanding the functions of the cullin/RING finger class of ubiquitin-protein ligases, whose members target the ubiquitin-mediated degradation of a diverse set of substrates, including cell cycle regulators. Our current projects involve both genetic and biochemical approaches to identify the substrates that must be ubiquitinated to allow the cullin-dependent cell cycle events to occur. We are also characterizing the proteins components in the cullin/RING finger complexes that are responsible for the observed cellular functions, as we expect multiple substrate-binding components will be present for each core complex. These studies on understanding basic aspects of cell cycle regulation will help to lay the foundation for the more long-range, comprehensive goal of understanding of how the cell cycle is regulated through development.