Our research aim is to understand the mechanisms underlying the regulation of neuropeptide secretion.  In this research, we are using the powerful molecular and genetic techniques available in a model genetic organism, the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster.

Neuropeptides perform diverse and critical functions in animal homeostasis, behavior and development.  In humans, long-term changes in neuropeptide secretion are intimately associated with common diseases, such as diabetes and obesity.  Yet despite their importance in biology and medicine, we know relatively little about the basic mechanisms underlying neuropeptide secretion.  We do know that peptides are transported through the regulated secretory pathway (RSP), following steps that are essentially the same in insects and mammals.  Further research is needed to describe the mechanisms by which cells acquire the specialized capacity to produce secretory granules -- and in the remarkable amounts necessary for normal cell-to-cell signaling.  We are only just beginning to reveal the molecular underpinnings for each of the steps in the neuropeptide RSP.  Are these steps modulated in order to effect long-term changes in neuropeptide secretion?  Do such changes influence developmentally regulated behaviors?  By exploring these questions in the fruit fly, we seek insights into the regulatory mechanisms controlling neuropeptide-dependent events in homeostasis, behavior, development, and human disease.  Within this general area, there are several opportunities in my lab for interdisciplinary graduate research (molecular genetics, cellular physiology, behavioral analysis, biochemistry and histology).