Section: Rotations

Joel Richter, Ph.D.

Academic Role: Professor

Faculty Appointment(s) In:
   Program in Molecular Medicine

Other Affiliation(s):
   Interdisciplinary Graduate Program
   Program in Neuroscience

Potential Rotation Projects

1. The program of early development in all animals is regulated at the level of messenger RNA translation. We investigate regulated mRNA translation in oocytes and embryos of Xenopus and the mouse. Xenopus oocytes are used to study the molecular mechanisms of mRNA translation, and to assess the influence of translational control on various aspects of oogenesis and embryogenesis. We use the mouse to make targeted gene knockouts of translation factors and examine the effects on early mammalian development.



2. Recent work has demonstrated that the Xenopus embryonic cell cycle is regulated is regulated at the level of mRNA translation. Further work suggests that mRNA translational may also control the mammalian somatic cell cycle. We employ FACS analysis to examine HeLa and MCF7 breast cancer cell cycle progression following transfection of cDNAs for dominant negative mutant forms of specific translation factors.



3. Synaptic plasticity, which probably underlies learning and long term memory storage in the central nervous system, is regulated at least in part by mRNA translational control in dendrites. One protein that controls translation in Xenopus and mouse oocytes, CPEB, is present in dendrites and appears to be important for learning and memory. Similarly, axon guidance is also influenced by mRNA translational control, and CPEB and associated factors may be involved here as well. For these studies, we employ cultured hippocampal neurons, knockout mice, and Drosophila, which offers a genetic approach to these problems.

Office: Biotech 2 Suite 204
Phone: 508-856-8615
E-mail: Joel.Richter@umassmed.edu
Keywords: Neurobiology, Gene Expression, Developmental Biology

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