Lab Website: http://www.tootlelab.com

Understanding the molecular mechanisms of prostaglandin signaling

Prostaglandins are transiently acting hormones that are synthesized at their sites of action by cyclooxygenase (COX) enzymes, the targets of Aspirin and Advil, to mediate a variety of biological activities, including inflammation, sleep, reproduction, and cancer development. How do prostaglandins regulate these diverse, cellular events? To address this question we have developed Drosophila oogenesis as a new a new and powerful model for studying prostaglandin signaling. Using both pharmacology and genetics, we discovered that prostaglandins mediate Drosophila follicle development, identified the Drosophila COX1 enzyme, Pxt, and revealed that genetic perturbation of prostaglandin signaling can be used to exam the function of prostaglandins. This research on prostaglandin signaling implicates it in modulating actin/membrane dynamics, cell migration, stem cell activity, and the timing of gene expression during Drosophila follicle development.

The lab is currently pursuing how prostaglandin signaling regulates actin dynamics and invasive cell migrations during Drosophila follicle development. By using a multifaceted experimental approach that combines Drosophila genetics, cell biology, live imaging, and biochemistry to we can begin to work out the mechanisms by which prostaglandins regulate these processes, and provide general insight into how prostaglandins regulate the cytoskeleton and migration at a cellular level. Such mechanisms of prostaglandin action are likely to be reutilized throughout development, including mediating the changes that occur during cancer progression and metastasis.

PubMed link

Department/Program Affiliations:
Anatomy and Cell Biology
Genetics
Molecular Medicine