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Faculty
 Marc
Lalande, Ph.D.
Professor and Chairman,
Genetics and Developmental Biology
lalande@neuron.uchc.edu
Areas of Interest:
Epigenetics including the control of gene
expression in embryonic carcinoma stem cells and genomic imprinting and
its association with neurogenetics disorders.
Lab Rotation Projects:
Epigenetic effects of tobacco smoke on human development.
The goals of this project are to first examine whether loss of
alteration of methylation of insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) is
associated with reduced fetal/placental growth in women who smoke.
This project may help us better understand at a molecular level how
smoking causes low birth weight babies. The goals of this study are
based on the observation that tobacco smoking can alter normal patterns
of DNA methylation and the knowledge that DNA methylation regulates IGF2
imprinting. We propose to study whether fetal tissue (umbilical cord),
placenta and maternal blood of smokers and non-smokers show differences
in methylation at the IGF2/H19 locus. These novel investigations will
permit us to determine whether the increased risk of adverse obstetrical
outcomes as result of tobacco usage have an epigenetic basis and may
help explain the variation of fetal growth among smokers and the link
between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and birth weight. Second, we
will identify genes that show altered expression in placenta and
umbilical cord tissue from smokers versus that of non-smokers.
Selected Publications:
Simon J, Wakimoto H, Fujita N, Lalande M, Barnard EA. Analysis of the
set of GABAA and Glycine receptor genes in the human genome (submitted).
Landers M, Bancescu D, Le Meur E, Rougeulle C, Glatt-Deeley H,
Brannan C, Lalande M. Regulation of the large (~1,000 kb) imprinted
murine Ube3a antisense transcript by alternative exons upstream
of Snurf/Snrpn (sumitted).
Bancescu D, Glatt-Deeley H, Lalande M.Epigenetic activation of the
5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) receptor 2C in embryonal carcinoma cells
is DNA replication-dependent. Exp Cell Res (In press).
Lalande M. Imprints of disease at GNAS1. J. Clin. Invest. 2001; 107:
793-794.
Wolverton T, Lalande M. Identification and Characterization of Three
Members of a Novel Subclass of Protocadherins. Genomics 2001; Vol. 76,
Numbers 1-3, 66-72.
LaSalle J, Lalande M. Flow Cytometry and FISH to Investigate
Allele-Specific Replication Timing and Homologous Association of
Imprinted Chromosomes. Methods Mol Biol. 2001; 181:181-92
Cavaillé J, Buiting K, Kiefmann M, Lalande M, Brannan C, Horsthemke
B, Bachellerie JP, Brosius J and Hüttenhofer A. Identification of
imprinted tissue-specific C/D box small nucleolar RNA genes in the
Prader- Willi syndrome region. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2000; 97:
14311-14316. |
