Seminars and Events

Past Events

Category Seminar
Date and Time 2007-04-24 16:30 - 17:30
Venue Auditorium C1F
Speaker Georg Halder
Affiliation The University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Title Mysteries in Growth Control
Host Shigeo Hayashi
Summary The regulation of organ size is fundamental to animal development, yet remarkably little is known about the mechanisms that control organ size. How do cells know when to stop dividing after an organ has reached its proper size and how do injured organs regenerate missing or damaged parts? The answers to these questions are currently unknown, but it is thought that neighboring cells signal to each other to regulate cell proliferation. However, the nature of these signals and how they regulate organ growth is not known. Through a genome wide genetic screen in Drosophila, we discovered a new signal transduction pathway, the Hippo pathway, which is essential for the development of properly-sized organs. Animals carrying mutations in Hippo pathway components develop severely overgrown adult structures because cells proliferate beyond normal organ size. We have identified several components of the Hippo pathway and a signal transduction pathway from the plasma membrane to the nucleus has begun to emerge. Most interestingly, we have recently identified a cell surface receptor that regulates the activity of the Hippo pathway: the atypical Cadherin Fat. We are currently addressing how the activity of Fat is regulated and what ligands signal through Fat to regulate organ growth. We are also studying how the Hippo pathway is involved in the regeneration of damaged tissues and how it regulates cell cycle progression and organ growth.
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