LeMosy Lab

 

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Current Member(s) of the LeMosy Lab:

 

Inquiries from prospective STAR, CURS, and Medical Scholar trainees are encouraged. At this time, the LeMosy lab is unable to support PhD or post-doctoral trainees.

Research Interests:

Our overall interest is in how proteins and carbohydrates in the extracellular matrix (ECM) microenvironment regulate signals transmitted between cells. Our perspective and tools are those of cell and developmental biologists. Signaling pathways important for development of organisms are re-utilized in repair, regeneration and aging. We use the developmental model systems of fruit flies and zebrafish, which offer powerful genetic tools and ready visualization of tissue morphogenesis, cell migration, and pathway activation in whole embryos. Because secreted signals must undergo tight spatial and temporal regulation in vivo, as compared to in cell or tissue culture studies, development offers strong models for determining regulatory mechanisms.

Some questions of current interest include:

How does a matrix protein regulate both formation of the craniofacial skeleton in zebrafish, and left-right patterning of its heart?

How do extracellular matrix carbohydrates and spatial cues regulate the activity state and localization of signaling molecules during fruit fly embryonic patterning?

These are described:  Research Page.

Potential impacts of the research are both fundamental and applied. Fundamental knowledge includes increased understanding of how Wnt, EGF, and NGF-related signals are controlled between the time they are secreted and the time they bind their cell surface receptors. These signals play important roles in prenatal development and birth defects, as well as in numerous injury responses and disease states, most notably cancer.

Some methods currently used include confocal immunofluorescence microscopy, CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis, transgenic and tissue-specific expression, e.g., Gal4-UAS system in flies, proteomics, glycomics, cell culture, and standard molecular biology and biochemical techniques.

Lab Members Page

Education:

1984			BS, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL
1993			PhD, Duke University, Durham, NC
1993			MD, Duke University, Durham, NC

Post-Doctoral Positions

1994-2000				Post-Doctoral Fellow, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CTDept. of Cell Biology, Lab of Carl Hashimoto
2000-2001				Associate Research Scientist, Yale University, New Haven, CT

Honors and Awards:

Member, American Heart Association Peer Review Committees, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2016
Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Research Award, March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation
NRSA F32 Postdoctoral Fellowship, NICHD
Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship, American Heart Association

History of Research Funding (Augusta U):

NIH R01, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, 2004-2009, NCE to 9/12
Spatial control of proteolysis in dorsoventral polarity
ARRA Supplement to above R01, 2009-2010, NCE to 9/11

March of Dimes Research Grant, 2010-2013
Glycan spatial regulators of extracellular signals in oogenesis and early embryo patterning

Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program, Charles R. Silbereisen Fund, 2002-present
Developmental signaling in embryonic patterning and organogenesis

AU Pilot Study Research Program Grant, 2/14-1/15
Early craniofacial defects associated with reduced zTINAGL1, the zebrafish ortholog of a
secreted Wnt-binding protein (PI, Ellen LeMosy; Co-I, David Kozlowski)

AU Pilot Study Research Program Grant, 10/09-3/11
Function of a conserved matricellular cathepsin B-like protein in fruitfly and zebrafish
models (PI, Ellen LeMosy; Co-I, Jeffrey Mumm)

MCG/UGA Seed Grant Initiative on Diabetes, Obesity and Related Disorders, 9/03-6/04
Functional analysis of the prohormone processing protease amontillado (amon) during
insulin signaling in Drosophila (equal co-investigator with Michael Bender, Dept. of
Genetics, UGA)

Trainee support

CURS Supply Grant (for project of Dheeraj Ravilla), Fall 2015
STAR Supply Support (for project of Clara Formby), Summer 2015

Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (to Michael B. Dinkins, Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. Program Student), American Heart Association, Greater Southeast Affiliate, 2008-2010Functional role of a conserved cathepsin B-like extracellular matrix protein during development

MCG, Dean’s Summer Research Fellowship (to Bennett Gardner, medical student), 2007 Extracellular matrix TIN-ag: functions in epithelial morphogenesis and repair

MCG, Dean’s Summer Research Fellowship (to Tambrea Ellison, medical student), 2005 Role of a Drosophila hemolymph protein in innate immunity and in embryo patterning

Publications:

See list of research articles and invited reviews at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=lemosy+ek

Dr. LeMosy has experienced a significant break in publications secondary to illness. She is working diligently toward publishing a backlog of manuscripts on studies performed in recent years.

Selected Meeting Presentations Since 2009:

Glycobiology Gordon Conference, Ventura, CA – January 2009
The continuing saga of Pipe and glycosaminoglycans in Drosophila embryonic axis patterning: new input from biochemical and functional approaches. (Talk)

SE Society for Developmental Biology Meeting, UAB – March 2009
Spatial cues in the extracellular matrix for early embryonic development. Invited Session Chair Talk, Patterning and Morphogenesis Session

7^th Annual Glycosymposium: Emerging paradigms in glycobiology, CCRC, UGA – October 2012
What does Pipe do? Finding a function and glycan target for a modifying enzyme important for Drosophila embryo patterning.
Invited Plenary Talk, Developmental Glycobiology Session

11^th International Conference on Zebrafish Development and Genetics, Madison, WI – 6/2014
Early craniofacial defects occur following knockdown of the extracellular matrix protein, TINAGL1. (Poster)