Investigators and Program Directors

Research Interests

Model Genes in Model Organisms. We use Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker's yeast) and Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies) to study genes that have homologs in higher organisms, including humans. We study these genes in yeast and flies because we can rapidly determine their function using the sophisticated genetic and molecular tools that are available. For example, we study a homeobox gene from Drosophila called bicoid, which encodes a protein that directs embryonic development of the head and thorax. We have used yeast and Drosophila to understand the details of Bicoid's action. Our results are important for understanding how genes like bicoid (homeobox genes) function in normal cells and how their disruption causes certain human cancers (e.g. childhood leukemias). We also used yeast to identify Drosophila proteins that interact with Bicoid. We are currently using Drosophila molecular biology and genetics to understand their function.

In a second project, we study a yeast gene called ESS1, which encodes an enzyme known as a prolyl-isomerase. ESS1 is conserved in all eukaryotes, including flies (called Dodo) and humans (called PIN1). ESS1 is essential for growth in yeast and cells that lack ESS1 arrest in mitosis and undergo nuclear fragmentation. By conducting simple molecular and genetic experiments in yeast, we are learning how yeast ESS1 and its human homolog PIN1 genes control cell growth; an understanding that might lead to the development of antifungal or anticancer drugs. Toward this goal, we have isolated ESS1 homologs from Candida albicans, and Cryptococcus neoformans, the two major human pathogenic fungi, and we found they are important for virulence. The X-ray structure of the C. albicans Ess1 protein was recently solved by our collaborators at the Wadsworth Center (Van Roey, Li), and may be used for drug design.

Contact Information

E-mail: hanes@wadsworth.org