Called ataxia, this defect is common in humans. Dr. Ranscht's laboratory seeks to determine if contactin can be used against human forms of ataxia and related motor-control diseases such Parkinson's and Huntington's, which afflict over a million Americans. His laboratory is particularly interested in how genes are turned on and off when healthy or cancerous cells receive instructional signals. Abnormal signaling can activate the wrong genes at the wrong time, resulting in aberrant behavior and growth. Dr. Oshima determines the purpose of key regulatory proteins by inactivation, using a technique now known as gene targeting.
Most diseases result from complex interactions among hundreds or even thousands of molecules.
Consequently, studying a disease one molecule at a time is a painstaking and time-consuming process. This problem is especially evident when tumors metastasize. Given these challenges, it is not surprising that there is still no unifying hypothesis on the mechanisms of metastasis. Dr. Smith envisions that this effort will change the way plasma membranes are viewed and studied.