The first goal of the Center is to understand the fundamental molecular mechanisms of stem cell proliferation and differentiation using human embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells, and stem cells in simpler organisms that are useful models for the study of developmental biology. Computational methods and systems biology approaches will be applied to understand intricate networks of genes and proteins.
The Clegg Laboratory focuses its research on the molecular basis of neural development and disease; retinal development and degeneration; differentiation of ocular cells from embryonic and adult stem cells.
Research in our lab is based around the phenomenon of self/non-self recognition (allorecognition) in a primitive chordate organism, Botryllus schlosseri.
Beginning with a long-standing interest in molecular mechanisms underlying the normal development and maintenance of the nervous system, our work has evolved to include a major effort to understand neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, FTDP-17 and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. Our investigations focus upon the normal and pathological action of the microtubule associated protein, tau.
We work on neural plasticity including the molecular basis of plasticity, the evolution of synapses, and disease-related impairments of plasticity such as occurs in Alzheimer's disease.
The current research in our lab is centered in two areas: Membrane trafficking/cell migration and histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4) methyltransferases and covalent modifications of histones regulate the structure and function of chromatin. As well as AGS3 and addiction.
Denise Montell’s lab has recently discovered a surprising reversibility of the cell suicide process known as apoptosis. A second major interest of the lab focuses on cell motility.
A central question in neurobiology is defining the molecular and cellular mechanisms through which animals translate sensory input into behavioral outputs. Our lab is focusing on dissecting how animal behaviors are influenced by changes in temperature, light input, gustatory and olfactory cues, and mechanical forces. To tackle this problem, we are using the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, because it allows us to employ a combination of molecular, cellular, biochemical, electrophysiological and genetic approaches to study the link between sensory signaling and animal behavior.
The Reich lab is investigates the complexity of cellular machinery on two fronts: to elucidate role of DNA binding enzymes in the epigenetic disposition of gene expression and suppression; and the design of nanoparticle tools to harness cellular processes for therapuetic and investigative purposes.
Regulation of development and differentiation; regulation of programmed cell death and cell division; mechanisms of tumorigenesis
My laboratory focuses on morphogenetic mechanisms in the tunicate Ciona.
The Streichan lab studies morphogenesis, the process by which developing multicellular organisms obtain their shape. We combine cutting-edge microscopy and quantitative, physics-inspired analysis and modeling to study how cells dynamically coordinate to generate forces and shape tissues.
Research in the Weimbs Laboratory is centered around Autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), SNAREs, and epithelial cell polarity.
The Wilson Lab combines tools from Biology, Engineering, and Physics to understand the cell’s perceptual field. What can cells perceive? How do they perceive it? How do they make complex decisions? Ultimately we are interested in divining the design principles that enable complex signaling networks to process information. To this end we have become experts in combining light-switchable (optogenetic) molecules to precisely tune inputs to these molecular networks with a variety of fluorescent output reporters in our test-bed model system, human induced pluripotent stem cells.
We study evolutionary questions using comparative genomic and epigenomic methods. A main research goal of the Yi lab is to understand how epigenetic regulatory mechanisms evolve and impact phenotypes, such as gene expression, phenotypic plasticity, and diseases. For example, we study the evolution of DNA methylation across the tree of life, and its relationship to the evolution of genome sequences and phenotypes. We are also investigating how epigenetic marks change in response to system perturbation such as diseases and environmental changes. Another major thrust of our current research is epigenetic evolution of human brains and its implication on neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia.
Neuroscience Research Institute
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9610
