Harris Lab - Developmental Toxicology

Description

Welcome to the laboratory research website of Dr. Craig Harris in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, at the University of Michigan.The broad area of research interest in our laboratory involves studies to elucidate mechanisms of developmental toxicity and the mechanisms of developmental growth and differentiation that are controlled through redox signaling pathways. The mechanistic causes of a majority of human birth defects remain unknown, but are believed to be multifactorial, having multiple levels of control involving genetic, chemical, dietary, and environmental factors. Using a variety of in vitro models such as rodent whole embryo culture, primary cell culture, and organ cultures, in conjunction with biochemical, molecular, and proteomic methods of analysis, we seek to determine the extent to which fine control of developmental signaling and control is regulated through redox mechanisms.

Redox signaling is known to control the function and activity of a large number of structural and functional proteins, including receptors, transporters, signal transduction molecules and nuclear transcription factors. The central concept of redox signaling is focused on the observations that proteins, peptides, and amino acids contain reactive sulfhydryl groups (-SH) that can be easily and reversibly oxidized and reduced under physiological conditions. Redox reactive elements in cells can be organized into kinetically distinct redox circuits that regulate and control different cellular functions and respond to different types of insults or environmental variations. Our overall goal in the laboratory is to understand how these pathways are controlled and whether various insults to the developing embryo and its extraembryonic membranes alter the normal course of embryogenesis to produce anatomical or functional birth defects.

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