About the Lab
Glycosylation is one of the most common post-translational modifications of proteins and plays major roles in various aspects of cellular and organismal biology. We use Drosophila and mouse genetics and cell culture experiments to understand the contribution of glycosylation and deglycosylation to the regulation of animal development and pathophysiology of human disease.
A major focus of our work is on POGLUT1 and other glycosyltransferases responsible for the addition of O-linked glycans to epidermal growth factor-like (EGF) repeats. Specifically, we would like to understand how these glycosyltransferases regulate the activity of the Notch signaling pathway in a dosage-sensitive and tissue-specific manner.
We have reported a mouse model for Alagille syndrome (ALGS), a multisystem disorder, which predominantly affects bile duct development and is mostly caused by haploinsufficiency of the Notch pathway ligand JAG1. We have identified a number of dosage-sensitive modifiers of ALGS phenotypes in mice (including Poglut1) and are characterizing their role in biliary development, in hopes of identifying a mechanism-based therapy for ALGS.
In another project, we are using Drosophila and mice to study N-glycanase 1 (NGLY1), a deglycosylation enzyme mutated in a multisystem developmental disorder called NGLY1 deficiency.
View a list of projects for more details.
Recent News
- Ashutosh’s paper on the role of fly NGLY1 in gut permeability, innate immunity and lipid catabolism was accepted by Nature Communications.
- Nima and Hamed were co-authors on a paper from the Darabi lab in Molecular Therapy - Nucleic Acids on modeling a muscle disease using iPSCs.
- Nima’s manuscript on targeting Poglut1 in mouse models of Alagille syndrome liver disease was accepted by Hepatology.
- Dr. Yusuke Urata from Professor Hideyuki Takeuchi’s group in Japan will be a visiting postdoctoral associate in our group.
- Congratulations to Dr. Ashutosh Pandey for his promotion to a research assistant professor!
- Congratulations to Dr. Nima Niknejad for his new position as a senior scientist at Nitto BioPharma!
- Hamed presented our work at Grace Science Foundation Symposium in Palo Alto.
- Duncan Fox gave a talk to CCHMC Liver Group (virtual)
- We received a new Special Emphasis R01 from NIDDK for preclinical studies on ALGS mouse models in collaboration with Dr. Stacey Huppert.
- Nima and Hamed presented our work at the Notch Gordon Conference in Lewiston.
- Hamed became the chair of a new NIH Study Section called MRAD.
