Annual Report 2011 - Center for Advanced Biotechnology and ...

Dr. Isaac Edery
CABM Resident Faculty Member
Professor
Department of Molecular Biology
and Biochemistry
Rutgers University
Dr. Rudra Dubey
Asst. Research Professor
Dr. Weihuan Cao
Research Assistant
Dr. Kwang Huei Low
Research Assistant
Evrim Yildirim
Graduate Student
Chhaya Dharia
Lab Researcher
Molecular Chronobiology Laboratory
Dr. Isaac Edery completed his doctoral studies in biochemistry as a Royal
Canadian Cancer Research Fellow under Dr. Nahum Sonenberg at McGill
University in Montreal. His Ph.D. research focused on the role of the
eukaryotic mRNA cap structure during protein synthesis and precursor
mRNA splicing. Subsequently, he was in the laboratory of Dr. Michael
Rosbash at Brandeis University where he pursued postdoctoral studies
aimed at understanding the time-keeping mechanism underlying circadian
clocks. He joined CABM in 1993, and his research is supported by NIH. Dr.
Edery is a member of the editorial board of Chronobiology International and
Journal of Biological Rhythms.
The main focus of the Edery lab is to understand the biochemical and cellular bases
underlying circadian (~24 hr) rhythms, using Drosophila as a model system. Our
strength lies in applying biochemical strategies that are integrated with genetic,
ecological and evolutionary perspectives to understand how circadian clocks
function and regulate animal physiology and behavior. Circadian rhythms are driven
by cellular clocks and enable organisms to anticipate daily and seasonal changes in
environmental conditions, ensuring activities occur at optimal times in the day and
appropriate seasonal responses are elicited. Understanding how clocks function is
highly relevant for human health and well-being. Indeed, clock malfunctions in
humans have been implicated in many diseases, including manic-depression, cancer,
sleep problems and metabolic syndromes. Our lab is investigating the core clock
mechanism, identifying novel clock proteins and how they interact to build a
biological time-keeping device that is synchronized to local time. In a second major
effort, we are determining the role of clocks in seasonal adaptation, which has led to
novel ecological and evolutionary implications. These studies have also broadened
our research scope by revealing mechanisms that regulate sleep and arousal. In
addition, we are investigating how environmental stimuli, most notably temperature,
controls global gene expression. Below is a brief summary of some of our ongoing
research and future directions
Mechanisms underlying circadian clocks: The central clock mechanism is a
dynamically changing multi-subunit biochemical oscillator based on a small set of
interacting core “clock” proteins and auxiliary factors that as a unit generates a selfperpetuating
daily transcriptional feedback loop that also drives global cyclical gene
expression, which underlies many of the daily rhythms manifested by organisms. In
addition, to the transcriptional architecture, numerous post-translational regulatory
pathways, most notably reversible phosphorylation, regulate various aspects of clock
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