Projects

As part of our translational research efforts, we are examining the activity of salicylates, which modulate the activity of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family members and inhibit nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-_B) activation.

We recently isolated the human homologue of the Drosophila l(3)mbt gene by exon trapping, based on its location on the long arm of chromosome 20 (20q) within a region frequently deleted in hematologic malignancies (most commonly polycythemia vera, MDS, and AML).

Since 1993, we have been studying the AML1-ETO fusion protein, which is found predominantly in the FAB-M2 subtype of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and is generated by the t(8;21). AML1 activity is critical for the development of definitive hematopoiesis; and haploinsufficiency of AML1 has been linked with a propensity to develop AML.

Our earlier studies of the transcriptional regulation of cytokine gene expression led us to isolate and characterize the transcription factor MEF (myeloid elf-1 like factor), which belongs to the well known ETS family of TFs.