Medical Student Research Fellowship for Summer 2005

Mentor: Keith Wharton, MD PhD
Department: Pathology
Room number: NB6.440
Mail Code: 9072
Phone number: 81959
E-mail: keith.wharton@utsouthwestern.edu
Project title: Feedback regulation of Wnt / beta-catenin signaling

Human subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable):

Animal subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable): 0907-04-01-1

Project Type (patient-based research, animal-based research, or basic research; this characterization is only to permit a general classification for grouping similar types of projects)

basic / animal

Brief Description of Project:

Precise control of Wnt / beta-catenin signal transduction is crucial throughout animal development and stem cell homeostasis. In the fruit fly embryo, Naked Cuticle (Nkd) acts in a negative feedback loop to limit the spread of a Wnt / beta-catenin signal that is required for segmentation. Nkd is a conserved, multi-domain protein that can bind to and specifically inactivate Dishevelled (Dsh), a key transducer of several Wnt signals. Mammals have two nkd genes, nkd1 and nkd2, though their sequences and known functions appear quite diverged from those of the insect genes. The Wharton lab currently has three complementary goals of: 1) fully characterizing the components, function, and regulation of the Wnt/Nkd feedback loop in Drosophila; 2) understanding the similarities and differences in mechanism of the fly and vertebrate Nkd proteins; 3) determining whether (and how) mouse Nkd proteins regulate Wnt signaling in development, normal physiology, or disease models.

Previous Research Activities or Publications with Medical Students:

2003, 2004 - UT-SUMR undergraduate student Connie So, currently a medical student at Texas A&M

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