Understanding the adaptive immune system poses a great conceptual challenge. It has evolved to respond to foreign invaders with exquisite sensitivity and selectivity. In particular, the T cell branch of the immune system ...

The synthetic multivulva (synMuv) class A and class B genes act redundantly to regulate Ras-mediated vulval cell fate specification in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The class B synMuv gene lin-35 encodes a protein ...

Insulin resistance is a cardinal feature of type 2 diabetes and is characteristic of a wide range of other clinical and experimental settings. Little is known about why insulin resistance occurs in so many contexts. Do the ...

Myofibroblasts are an alpha-smooth muscle actin ([alpha]-SMA)-expressing cell type found within human mammary carcinomas, but not in the normal mammary gland. Myofibroblasts can enhance tumor formation by promoting ...

This work focuses on designing specific miniprotein interactions using computational models and then testing these designs with experiments. Miniproteins are small, autonomously-folding proteins that are excellent for ...

In order to ensure the accurate formation of two daughter cells from one parental cell, the series of events that comprise the mitotic cell division cycle must be carefully regulated. Much of this regulation affects the ...

K+ channels generate and tune the electrical signals that underlie the functioning of neurons and other excitable cells. We have studied a set of genetically-interacting genes, sup-9, sup-10 and unc-93, whose products are ...

As transcription factors are the nuclear effectors of signaling cascades, mechanisms must exist to specifically regulate their activities in response to signaling events. Regulation can occur at the DNA, RNA, or protein ...