Resume

• 2017

  Simon Fraser University

• 2006

  Simon Fraser University

  Acting Chair

  Molecular Biology and Biochemistry

  Simon Fraser University

• 1998

  Simon Fraser University

  Vancouver

  BC

  Canada

  Developmental Genetics and signal transduction

  Professor

  Simon Fraser University

• 1993

  Postodoctoral Fellowship

  Artavanis-Tsakonas Lab

  Genetics and Signal Transduction

  Yale University School of Medicine

• 1988

  PhD

  Genetics

  Yale University School of Medicine

• 1984

  English

  German

  B.A.

  Biology

  Cornell University

• verheyen lab

  Verheyen Lab Esther Verheyen Drosophila Signal Transduction

  Verheyen lab

  verheyen lab

  Verheyen Lab Esther Verheyen Drosophila Signal Transduction

  Verheyen lab

  Public lecture on the future of stem cell research

  CAFE SCIENTIFIQUE

  Speaker

  Scientific Writing

  Cell Culture

  Life Sciences

  PCR

  Biochemistry

  Genetics

  Western Blotting

  Bioinformatics

  Molecular Cloning

  Cell Biology

  Science

  Signal Transduction

  Computational Biology

  Genomics

  Molecular Biology

  Research

  Lifesciences

  Confocal Microscopy

  Fluorescence Microscopy

  Developmental Biology

  Characterization of Dir: a putative potassium inward rectifying channel in Drosophila.

  Sheila MacLean

  Potassium channels vary in their function and regulation

  yet they maintain a number of important features - they are involved in the control of potassium flow

  cell volume

  cell membrane resting potential

  cell excitability and hormone release. The potassium (K(+)) inward rectifier (Kir) superfamily of channels are potassium selective channels

  that are sensitive to the concentration of K(+) ions. They are termed inward rectifiers since they allow a much greater K(+) influx than efflux. There are at least seven subfamilies of Kir channels

  grouped according to sequence and functional similarities (Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 5 (1995) 268; Annu. Rev. Physiol. 59 (1997) 171). While numerous Kir channels have been discovered in a variety of organisms

  Drosophila inward rectifier (Dir) is the first putative inward rectifier to be studied in Drosophila. In fact

  there are only three genes (including Dir) encoding putative inward rectifiers in the Drosophila genome. Though there are other known potassium channels in Drosophila such as ether-a-go-go and shaker

  most are voltage-gated channels. As an important first step in characterizing Kir channels in Drosophila

  we initiated studies on Dir.

  Characterization of Dir: a putative potassium inward rectifying channel in Drosophila.

  Evolutionarily conserved intercellular signaling pathways regulate embryonic development and adult tissue homeostasis in metazoans. The precise control of the state and amplitude of signaling pathways is achieved in part through the kinase- and phosphatase-mediated reversible phosphorylation of proteins. In this study

  we performed a genome-wide in vivo RNAi screen for kinases and phosphatases that regulate the Wnt pathway under physiological conditions in the Drosophila wing disc. Our analyses have identified 54 high-confidence kinases and phosphatases capable of modulating the Wnt pathway

  including 22 novel regulators. These candidates were also assayed for a role in the Notch pathway

  and numerous phospho-regulators were identified. Additionally

  each regulator of the Wnt pathway was evaluated in the wing disc for its ability to affect the mechanistically similar Hedgehog pathway. We identified 29 dual regulators that have the same effect on the Wnt and Hedgehog pathways. As proof of principle

  we established that Cdc37 and Gilgamesh/CK1γ inhibit and promote signaling

  respectively

  by functioning at analogous levels of these pathways in both Drosophila and mammalian cells. The Wnt and Hedgehog pathways function in tandem in multiple developmental contexts

  and the identification of several shared phospho-regulators serve as potential nodes of control under conditions of aberrant signaling and disease.

  Genome-wide identification of phospho-regulators of Wnt signaling in Drosophila

  Lindsey Lewellyn

  Kasandra McCormack

  Vilaiwan Fernandes

  Cell Reports

  During morphogenesis

  extracellular signals trigger actomyosin contractility in subpopulations of cells to coordinate changes in cell shape. To illuminate the link between signaling-mediated tissue patterning and cytoskeletal remodeling

  we study the progression of the morphogenetic furrow (MF)

  the wave of apical constriction that traverses the Drosophila eye imaginal disc preceding photoreceptor neurogenesis. Apical constriction depends on actomyosin contractility downstream of the Hedgehog (Hh) and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) pathways. We identify a role for integrin adhesion receptors in MF progression. We show that Hh and BMP regulate integrin expression

  the loss of which disrupts apical constriction and slows furrow progression; conversely

  elevated integrins accelerate furrow progression. We present evidence that integrins regulate MF progression by promoting microtubule stabilization

  since reducing microtubule stability rescues integrin-mediated furrow acceleration. Thus

  integrins act as a genetic link between tissue-level signaling events and morphological change at the cellular level

  leading to morphogenesis and neurogenesis in the eye.

  Integrins regulate apical constriction via microtubule stabilization in the Drosophila eye disc epithelium

  Drosophila nemo is an essential gene involved in the regulation of programmed cell death.

  Review of \"The Personalized Medicine Revolution: How Diagnosis and Treating Disease Are About to Change Forever\" by Pieter Cullis

  Brave New Cures: Genetic testing’s expansion of medical horizons

  M Faust

  Uwe Walldorf

  Wendy Lee

  Homeodomain interacting protein kinase (Hipk) is a member of a novel family of serine/threonine kinases. Extensive biochemical studies of vertebrate homologs

  particularly Hipk2

  have identified a growing list of interactors

  including proteins involved in transcriptional regulation

  chromatin remodeling and essential signaling pathways such as Wnt and TGFbeta. To gain insight into the in vivo functions of the single Drosophila Hipk we characterized loss of function alleles

  which revealed an essential requirement for hipk. We find that in the developing eye

  hipk promotes the Notch pathway. Notch signaling acts at multiple points in eye development to promote growth

  proliferation and patterning. Hipk stimulates the early function of Notch in promotion of global growth of the eye disc. It has been shown in the Drosophila eye that Hipk interferes with the repressive activity of the global co-repressor

  Groucho (Gro). Here

  we propose that Hipk antagonizes Gro to promote the transmission of the Notch signal

  indicating that Hipk plays numerous roles in regulating gene expression through interference with the formation of Gro-containing co-repressor complexes.

  Hipk is an essential protein that promotes Notch signal transduction in the Drosophila eye by inhibition of the global co-repressor Groucho.

  Esther

  Verheyen