Laughon Lab

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We study mechanisms by which TGFbeta signaling pathways control pattern formation. The focus is on Smad proteins, transcription factors that shuttle from cytoplasm to nucleus in response to TGFbeta cytokines. Our past work has shown that Smads bind to target DNAs by means of a conserved amino-terminal domain and that Smad targets in Drosophila are regulated negatively by Brinker. We are currently investigating mechanisms by which Smads repress transcription.