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Michael Lehmann Office: SCEN 621 |
Degrees:
Ph.D. Philipps University Marburg, 1988.Research Interests:
My laboratory is interested in the basic mechanisms that govern the development of complex, multicellular organisms. In particular, we want to understand how programmed cell death (apoptosis) is regulated during normal development and in response to steroid hormone. Cell death results from activation of a genetic program that is conserved from flies to humans. This program is indispensible for our normal development and health. Cancers, for instance, develop from cells that have lost the ability to execute the death program. Death can be triggered by steroid hormones. However, it is not well understood why some cells and tissues die in response to steroids and others do not. Our goal is to find answers to this question.
During metamorphosis of the fruit fly Drosophila, steroid hormone triggers the destruction of most of the tissues of the larva. This provides us with an excellent system to study the evolutionarily conserved mechanisms of steroid-induced death. Drosophila as a model organism offers unique advantages for biomedical research carried out by molecular and genetic techniques.
Steroid hormones act by binding to transcription factors that control gene expression. In general, differential gene expression is the basis of cellular differentiation. For an understanding of development it is thus critical to understand how patterns of gene expression are generated and stably maintained. In a second major project pursued in my laboratory, we address this question by studying the role of a specific chromatin complex in the control of homeotic and other important developmental genes.
Academic Interests:
Control of development and programmed cell death by steroid hormones.Lab Website:
Click here to go to Dr. Lehmann's lab website.Recent Publications:
Cao, C., Liu, Y., and Lehmann, M. 2007. Fork head controls the timing and tissue selectivity of steroid-induced developmental cell death. J. Cell Biology 176:843-852.Liu, Y. and Lehmann, M. 2006. FOXO-independent suppression of programmed cell death by the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in Drosophila. Dev. Genes Evol. 216, 531-535.
Lehmann, M. 2004. Anything else but GAGA: a nonhistone protein complex reshapes chromatin structure. Trends in Genetics 20:15-22.
Schwendemann, A. and Lehmann, M. 2002. Pipsqueak and GAGA factor act in concert as partners at homeotic and many other loci. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 99:12883-12888.
Siegmund, T. and Lehmann, M. 2002. The Drosophila Pipsqueak protein defines a new family of helix-turn-helix DNA-binding proteins. Dev. Genes Evol. 212:152-157.
Lehmann, M., Jiang, C., Ip, Y. T., and Thummel C. S. 2002. AP-1, but not NF-B, is required for efficient steroid-triggered salivary gland cell death in Drosophila. Cell Death Differ. 9:581-590.