Scientific interest
Phosphoinositide signalling
effectors in intraccellular vesicle trafficking.
Phosphoinositides
are crucial lipid signaling molecules within the cell. They are involved
in the regulation of multiple cellular functions through the recruitment
of cytosolic proteins to specific membranes. We are primarily studying
one of these phosphoinositides, PI3P, and its effectors in vesicle
trafficking processes like endocytosis and autophagy (in which the cell ingest cytoplasm
to be able to cope with amino acid deficiency during rapid development,
starvation, or as a way to undergo programmed cell death). We previously
found that a protein domain, dubbed the FYVE finger, binds PI3P.
This domain is a necessary part of regulators of endocytosis like HRS
and EEA1, and is also present in a novel protein that localizes to precursors
of autophagosomes. We are currently complementing our biochemical and
cell culture studies, taking a reverse
genetics approach using the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster
(Norwegian: Bananflue) to ask what are the functions of FYVE finger
containing proteins in Endocytosis and Autophagy in a multicellular
animal.
| Drosophila resources |
Other resources |
| FlyBase, and mirrors at
Harvard, Indiana, Shigen The primary Drosophila information site. Contains everything!!!!! BDGP Berkley Drosophila Genome Project.All news on the genomics/proteomics front. Everything about the sequencing of the genome, how to get BACs, cDNAs, etc. DGRC (Drosophila Genomics Resouce Centre) Get DNA, cDNA, cell lines, microarrays, vectors etc. The invitrogen Gateway cloning system for fly work A fantastic interactive Drosophila two-hybrid protein-protein interaction map provided by Curagen FlyBLAST BLAST the Drosophilagenome for sequence similarities p-element screen database Mapping of p-elements to genetic loci. Does your favourite gene have a mutation? Genexel Drosdel An effort to create an isogenic deficieny kit for the Drosophila genome Tilling An EMS-based screening method to obtain mutation sin your gene of choice Gadfly Genome annotation database. Search for your favorite genes families, domains or processes by protein domains, sequence similarities, or function Bloomington, Szeged DGRC Search and order Drosophila stocks from the stock centres Flyview and Flymove Excellent learning sites for Drosophila development and genetics, Drosophila p-elements and enhancer trap pictures The Drosophila Virtual Library Drosophila genome annotation and articles, release 3 Annual Drosophila reserach conferences Rubin lab manual A nice short historical story on early Drosophila genetics and central persons at the Nobel price e-museum in Sweden Extensive resource list for Drosophilists in the lab of Seymor Benzer Other Flylabs on the Web |
Litterature PubMed Development Developmental Cell Electronic Journals, University of Oslo Sequence analysis AGOWA pBLAST, nBLAST, BLAST2 CLUSTALW multiple sequence alignment Sequence Retrieval System SRS. Finding ESTs with Gene2EST Almost everything you need. Rein Aasland´s compact collection of www-links for DNA and protein sequence analysis can be found here. Other interesting organisms C.elegans, WormBase , ACEDB, Anatomy and Other C. elegans resources, yeast, Saccharomyces Genome Database, Function Junction E. coli, E. coli Genetics Stock Centre, mouse, Mouse Genome Informatics , human, The Genomic Database and OMIM. Even more organisms can be found at SHIGEN. Organisations EMBL MPI Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics EBI SARS The Norwegian Research Council (NFR) The Norwegian Cancer Society (DNK) The Norwegian Biochemical Society (NBS) Gordon Research conferences (GRC) Tips for Webpage-design
|
Adapted from Mizushima et al., JCB, Vol. 152, pp 657-667, 2001 |
Autophagy is an intracellular degradation pathway in which cytoplasmic components are directed to the degradative organelle, the lysosome where the constituents are broken down. This membrane -mediated process proceeds in distinct steps. The cytoplasmic constituents are enclosed by the double membrane structure called the isolation membrane. The resultant autophagosome in turn fuses with the lysosome forming the autolysosome where the enclosed material is broken down. |
Reverse genetics in Drosophila
Drosophila has been a genetic model
system for nearly a hundred years. It offers easy rearing and
genetic manupilation that has been outstandingly succesful in identifying
functions of genes in animal Development and Disease. Classical genetic
screens (so-called forward genetics) combine random mutagenesis
with a phenotypic selection to identify genes important for biological
processes. However this approach is laborious and may not identify
all relevant genes. Since spring 2001 the Drosophila genomic
sequence has been available. This offers an invaluable tool to study gene
function in biological processes. Ideally one would like to reduce or
delete a genes function at will (so-called reverse genetics). Last
year a targeted gene knockout techniquee was described in Drosophila
(Rong
and Golic, 2001. & Rong,
2002)This approach is still laborious and has still to prove
its general usefulness. Double stranded RNA interference (RNAi)
can reduce gene expression in a sequence-specific manner in diverse
organisms by targeting homologous mRNA for degradation (reviewed in
Hammond
et al., 2001). Recently a modified double stranded RNA interference
(RNAi) technique was described to be able to selectively reduce gene
function to a level comparable to loss of gene function in several
genes (Kalidas
and Smith, 2002). This technique allows double stranded RNA
molecules to be made following splicing out of intron sequences
in the tandem inverted coding DNA. The geniality of this technique
is that it lends itself to expression in many tissues and cell types
at a chosen timepoint in a flies life, be it egg, embryo,larvae or adult
flies due to the numerous genetic tricks available in Drosophila
for gene expression. This technique holds great promise for a systematic
search for gene function in the biological process of choice. To read
about RNAi as high through-put screens visit the web page of Cenix
Gmbh.
The Stenmarklab Fly Team
|
Postdoctoral scientist Tor Erik Rusten Cand. Scient work 1994-1997, with Dr. Rein Aasland at the University of Bergen, Norway. PhD work with Prof. Fotis C. Kafatos at the EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany1997-2001. Postdoctoral work with Prof. Harald Stenmark at The Norwegian Radium Hospital , Oslo, Norway since January 2002. Publication list Contact me by: phone +47 22 934937,fax +47 22 508692, or email t.e.rusten@klinmed.uio.no |
|
Pre-doc/Graduate student/Sitpendiat
Lina Malin W. Rodahl Studying at the University of Oslo since 1998. Working as a diploma student with Prof.Harald Stenmark at The Norwegian Radium Hospital , Oslo, Norway since January 2003. Contact me by: phone +47 22 934937,fax +47 22 508692,
or email |
|
Pre-doc/Graduate student/Stipendiat
Karine Lindmo Civil engineering studies in biotechnology at NTNU, Trondheim 1997-2002. Working as a predoctoral student with Prof.Harald Stenmark at The Norwegian Radium Hospital , Oslo, Norway since January 2003. Contact me by: phone +47 22 934458, fax +47 22 508692,
or email |
