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Erin Cram
Assistant Professor of Biology
Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
Research
Areas:
Cancer biology
In vivo approaches to cell migration
Email: e.cram@neu.edu
Phone: 617.373.7533
Fax: 617.373.3724
Location: 413B Mugar Bldg.
Mail: NU/Biology
134 Mugar Life Sciences
360 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
USA
Lab website: http://nuweb.neu.edu/ecram/
Research
Description
Interactions between cells and their extracellular environment play an essential role in controlling tissue architecture, cell survival, and cell migration. These processes are important for normal animal development and are disrupted during cancer progression.
Integrins are cell surface proteins that sense the extra cellular protein (matrix) environment and signal to the cell to control differentiation, survival and migration of cells. In animals there are multiple integrins with specialized and overlapping roles in various cell types.
The nematode, C. elegans, has only two integrins, and is an excellent system for genetic and molecular analysis of integrin signaling in vivo. In C. elegans, integrins are essential for embryonic development, muscle cell adhesion and contraction, axon outgrowth, and migration of the distal tip cells (DTC).
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DTC (labeled with GFP) migrates along the ventral surface of a nematode worm |
Mouse cells attach to matrix using integrin receptors |
I have recently found more than 100 C. elegans genes that regulate DTC migration many of which function in integrin signaling. Our goal is to understand how genes cooperate to control cell migration in vivo. We are using data mining to find interacting networks of genes, analysis of expression patterns, and cell-specific RNAi to disrupt genes in the DTC, in other migratory cells, and in surrounding tissues. In addition, using various nematode strains with disrupted integrin function, we hope to identify new genes that genetically interact with integrins in migratory cells.
One of the most exciting outcomes of my DTC migration screen was the isolation of new regulators of cell migration. We are studying the genetic and biochemical interactions of several of these genes using C. elegans and mammalian cell culture. Our long-term research objectives involve characterization of the evolutionarily conserved mechanisms underlying cell migration, and the implications of these processes in cancer and metastasis.
E.J. Cram, K.M. Fontanez, J.E. Schwarzbauer. (2008) Functional characterization of KIN-32, C. elegans focal adhesion kinase. Developmental Dynamics. In Press.
E.J. Cram, H. Shang, J.E. Schwarzbauer. (2006) A systematic RNA interference screen reveals a cell migration gene network in C. elegans. J Cell Sci. 2006 Dec 1;119(Pt 23):4811-8.
C.M. Meighan, E.J. Cram, J.E. Schwarzbauer. (2004) Organogenesis: Cutting to the Chase. Current Biology 2004 14: R948-R950.
E.J. Cram, J.E. Schwarzbauer. (2004) The talin wags the dog: New insights into integrin activation. Trends in Cell Biology Vol. 14, No. 2, p 55-57.
E.J. Cram, S.G. Clark, J.E. Schwarzbauer. (2003) Talin loss-of-function uncovers roles in cell contractility and migration in C. elegans. J. Cell Science 116: 3871-3878.
Myeongwoo Lee, E.J. Cram, B. Shen, J.E. Schwarzbauer. (2001) Roles for bpat-3 integrins in development and function of Caenorhabditis elegans muscles and gonads. J. Biol. Chem. 276: 36404-10.
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