Prof. Harvey F Lodish

Research in Professor Lodish's lab focuses on five important areas at the interface between molecular cell biology and medicine:

(1) Red blood cell development, especially the regulation of proliferation and differentiation of early (BFU-E) and late (CFU-E) erythroid progenitor cells by extracellular signals including erythropoietin, glucocorticoids, and oxygen. Identifying many novel genes that are important for terminal stages of erythropoiesis, including chromatin condensation and enucleation, and uncovering their mechanism of action. One goal is the development of new therapies for erythropoietin- resistant anemias.

(2) microRNAs (miRs) and long non-coding RNAs (lincRNAs) that regulate erythroid and myeloid progenitor cells. Identifying their mRNA and protein targets, and defining their roles in several hematopoietic cancers.

(3) Hematopoietic stem cells. Identifying the stromal cells in the fetal liver and bone marrow that support stem cell self- renewal in vivo, and identifying novel growth factors made by these cells that support stem cell expansion in culture. We are beginning clinical trials to expand cord blood stem cells using our recently- identified growth factors.

(4) Adipocyte biology. Defining the mechanisms of insulin resistance and the functions of adiponectin, a hormone we cloned that is made exclusively by fat cells and that increases fatty acid and glucose metabolism by muscle and liver.

(5) miRs and lincRNAs that regulate differentiation and function of white and brown adipose cells.

(6) Regulated cleavage and release of the extracellular domain ("ectodomain shedding") of transmembrane precursors of several secreted growth factors.

What ties all of these projects together is their focus on the basic cell and molecular biology of genes and proteins important for human physiology and disease.