Irreversible APC(Cdh1) Inactivation Underlies the Point of No Return for Cell-Cycle Entry. Proliferating cells must cross a point of no return before they replicate their DNA and divide. This commitment decision plays a fundamental role in cancer and degenerative diseases and has been proposed to be mediated by phosphorylation of retinoblastoma (Rb) protein. Here, we […]

Waves of actin and microtubule polymerization drive microtubule-based transport and neurite growth before single axon formation. Many developing neurons transition through a multi-polar state with many competing neurites before assuming a unipolar state with one axon and multiple dendrites. Hallmarks of the multi-polar state are large fluctuations in microtubule-based transport into and outgrowth of different […]

Locally excitable Cdc42 signals steer cells during chemotaxis. Neutrophils and other amoeboid cells chemotax by steering their front ends towards chemoattractant. Although Ras, Rac, Cdc42 and RhoA small GTPases all regulate chemotaxis, it has been unclear how they spatiotemporally control polarization and steering. Using fluorescence biosensors in neutrophil-like PLB-985 cells and photorelease of chemoattractant, we […]

Marielle Koeberlin joined the Meyer lab as a postdoctoral fellow. Welcome aboard Marielle!

Phosphodiesterase 4D acts downstream of Neuropilin to control Hedgehog signal transduction and the growth of medulloblastoma. Alterations in Hedgehog (Hh) signaling lead to birth defects and cancers including medulloblastoma, the most common pediatric brain tumor. Although inhibitors targeting the membrane protein Smoothened suppress Hh signaling, acquired drug resistance and tumor relapse call for additional therapeutic […]

Phylogenetic Profiling for Probing the Modular Architecture of the Human Genome. Information about functional connections between genes can be derived from patterns of coupled loss of their homologs across multiple species. This comparative approach, termed phylogenetic profiling, has been successfully used to infer genetic interactions in bacteria and eukaryotes. Rapid progress in sequencing eukaryotic species […]

Leighton Daigh joins the lab as a grad student. Welcome aboard Leighton

Anjali Bisaria and Yilin Fan join the lab as grad students. Welcome aboard Anjali and Yilin!

Using light to shape chemical gradients for parallel and automated analysis of chemotaxis. Numerous molecular components have been identified that regulate the directed migration of eukaryotic cells toward sources of chemoattractant. However, how the components of this system are wired together to coordinate multiple aspects of the response, such as directionality, speed, and sensitivity to […]

Systematic Discovery of Human Gene Function and Principles of Modular Organization through Phylogenetic Profiling. Functional links between genes can be predicted using phylogenetic profiling, by correlating the appearance and loss of homologs in subsets of species. However, effective genome-wide phylogenetic profiling has been hindered by the large fraction of human genes related to each other […]