Jeffrey Thomas, Ph.D.
| Assistant Professor | jeffrey.thomas@ttuhsc.edu |
Biography
My interest in developmental biology and genetics began as an undergraduate biology major at the University of Virginia where I worked on a project involving lens induction in Xenopus laevis under the guidance of Dr. Robert M. Grainger. I attended MIT to pursue a Ph.D. degree in biology supported by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute predoctoral fellowship. I studied the developmental genetics of Caenorhabditis elegans in the laboratory of Dr. H. Robert Horvitz. Specifically, I conducted a genetic analysis of the synthetic Multivulva genes, a group of redundant genes that negatively regulate a ras-mediated signaling pathway essential to the specification of vulval cell fates during C. elegans development. I did my postdoctoral studies on morphogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster in the laboratory of Dr. Eric Wieschaus at Princeton University supported by an NIH fellowship and by HHMI. At Princeton, I began two projects that I am continuing in my laboratory today. Following a brief period as a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Greg J. Beitel at Northwestern University, I joined the faculty of the Department of Cell Biology and Biochemistry at TTUHSC in 2005.
Research Interests
Our research is focused on morphogenesis, the generation of structure and form during development. Our efforts are concentrated on two projects.
Cephalic furrow formation: In this project, we study the cell shape changes and tissue movements that constitute cephalic furrow formation during Drosophila gastrulation. During cephalic furrow formation, the single cell-layered cellular blastoderm invaginates into the embryo as a simple fold, retaining its epithelial character. We are taking a genetic approach to identify the genes that control this process and to determine how they function. By using this approach, we hope to determine what cellular processes are involved in cell shape changes and tissue movements and to determine how the genes we identify control these cellular processes. Several genes have been identified and genetic analyses of these genes are underway.
src64 regulation of the microfilament cytoskeleton: In this project, we study cytoskeletal dynamics during cellularization, the process of forming cells in the multinucleate Drosophila embryo by insertion of membrane between nuclei. At the leading edge of cell formation, a lattice-like network of interconnected microfilament rings encompasses the entire embryo. We have found that src64, a homologue of the proto-oncogene src, is involved in regulating the contraction of these microfilament rings. By analyzing the function of src64 in this model process, we hope to gain a deeper understanding of the role of src genes in the regulation of the cytoskeleton during development and during tumor progression. Our current work focuses on analyzing the src64 pathway and identifying the cellular mechanisms that control microfilament ring contraction.
Recent Publications
- Taylor C. Strong and Jeffrey H. Thomas. Mutational analysis of src64 reveals a requirement for tyrosine kinase activity in cytoskeletal regulation in the Drosophila embryo and egg chamber. (in preparation).
- Jeffrey H. Thomas and Eric Wieschaus. (2004). src64 and tec29 are required for microfilament contraction during Drosophila cellularization. Development 131: 863-871.
- Jeffrey H. Thomas, Craig J. Ceol, Hillel T. Schwartz and H. Robert Horvitz. (2003). New genes that interact with lin-35 Rb to negatively regulate the let-60 ras pathway in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics 164: 135-151.
- Jeffrey H. Thomas and H. Robert Horvitz. (1999). The C. elegans gene lin-36 acts cell autonomously in the lin-35 Rb pathway. Development 126: 3449-3459.