Dr.David Carroll, Ph.D.

Using a combination of biochemistry, molecular biology and live-cell microscopy, we have discovered that PLC-gamma is required for the initiation of the calcium increase during fertilization in starfish and sea urchin eggs. In collaboration with Dr. Kathy Foltz of the University of California at Santa Barbara and Dr. Laurinda Jaffe of the University of Connecticut Health Center, we have cloned a starfish PLC-gamma cDNA from an arrayed oocyte cDNA library. We are currently using this clone as a tool to look for proteins that interact with PLC-gamma in a fertilization-specific manner. We have determined that there are many tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins, some from the sperm and some from the egg, that bind to PLC-gamma only after fertilization. The identification of these proteins is a major goal of the laboratory in the coming years. Two graduate students from the laboratory (Leia Shuhaibar and Lu Zhong) have also developed a method for the visualization of changes in an enzyme called Mitogen-activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) using single cells. This allows us to gain a better understanding of the regulation of this enzyme during oocyte maturation and fertilization. Ph.D. students Lauren Bates (now Dr. Bates) and Emily Wiseman (now Dr. Wiseman) have developed a new starfish egg transcriptome which will allow us to identify and clone any proteins identified in our screens for novel signaling molecules at fertilization. The transcriptome can be accessed here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/?term=PRJNA398668
Signal Transduction
Fertilization
Reproductive Biology