Human Genetics

E-mail: grunwald@genetics.utah.edu
Address: Eccles Institute of Human Genetics, Room 5160

Phone: 581-6421

How Calcium Fluxes Influence L/R Asymmetric Gene Expression

Impaired regulation of intracellular calcium release has been linked to skeletal and cardiac muscle myopathies.  Our work modeling congenital myopathies in the zebrafish embryo has indicated that 1) intracellular calcium release is required for multiple developmental events, including establishing Left/Right patterning of the embryo, response to Hedgehog Growth Factor signaling, and muscle cell differentiation, and 2) one selenoprotein (SepN) has a critical role mediating the redox-dependent modification of intracellular calcium release channel activity.  Current work in the laboratory is aimed at understanding how calcium fluxes influence L/R asymmetric gene expression and the response to Hedgehog signaling and testing whether selenoproteins more generally function to mediate redox-dependent regulation of cellular processes, specifically heart muscle function.

12/07