Molecular Biology is a fundamental area of investigative research in Biology that employs new technologies and experimental approaches to examine fundamental processes in all living organisms. In the course of these investigations, we use wide variety of model organisms, including mice, guinea pigs, human tissue cell cultures, the nematode species Caenorhabditis elegans, the plant Arabidopsis thaliana, model bacteria and the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. The research is of immediate relevance to human health in many areas including cancer, inherited genetic diseases and disease resistance, DNA repair, and neurosystem development and function. We welcome strong applicants as undergraduate researchers, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.
The heart is the organ most often affected by congenital malformations, as well as diseases associated with aging. Uncovering the molecular and genetic mechanisms that underlie these problems can be accelerated through study with simpler genetic models such as the fruitfly, Drosophila. The Jacobs lab employs the Drosophila genetic model to dissect heart formation and growth of the heart, with particular focus on adhesion signaling, cell polarity, morphogenesis and the formation and remodeling of the heart extra-cellular matrix.
The Jacobs lab is no longer recruiting students for graduate or undergraduate thesis work.
Cell and Developmental Biology; Genetics & Molecular Biology
- Hughes CJR, Turner S, Andrews RM, Vitkin A, Jacobs JR. (2020) Matrix metalloproteinases regulate ECM accumulation but not larval heart growth in Drosophila melanogaster. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 140:42-55. doi: 10.1016/j.yjmcc.2020.02.008.
- Cevik D, Acker M, Arefi P, Ghaemi R, Zhang J, Selvaganapathy PR, Dworkin I, Jacobs JR. (2019) Chloroform and desflurane immobilization with recovery of viable Drosophila larvae for confocal imaging.J Insect Physiol.117:103900. doi: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2019.103900
- Cevik D, Acker M, Michalski C, Jacobs JR. (2019) Pericardin, a Drosophila collagen, facilitates accumulation of hemocytes at the heart. Dev Biol. 454(1):52-65. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2019.06.006
- Ghaemi R, Arefi P, Stosic A, Acker M, Raza Q, Jacobs JR and Selvaganapathy PR. (2017) A microfluidic microinjector for toxicological and developmental studies in Drosophila embryos. Lab Chip, 2017, http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C7LC00537G
- Hughes, CJR and Jacobs, JR (2017) Dissecting the Role of the Extracellular Matrix in Heart Disease: Lessons from the Drosophila Genetic Model. Vet. Sci. 2017, 4, 24; doi:10.3390/vetsci4020024
- Vanderploeg J, Jacobs JR (2017) Mapping heart development in flies: Src42A acts non-autonomously to promote heart tube formation in Drosophila. Vet. Sci. 2017, 4, 23; doi:10.3390/vetsci4020023
- Raza Q, Vanderploeg, J Jacobs JR. (2017) Matrix Metalloproteinases are required for membrane motility and lumenogenesis during Drosophila heart development. PlosONE PLoS Feb 13;12(2):e0171905. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0171905
- Raza Q, Jacobs JR (2016) Guidance signalling regulates leading edge behaviour during collective cell migration of cardiac cells in Drosophila. Dev Biol. 419(2):285-297 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ydbio.2016.09.005
- Bogatan S, Cevik D, Demidov V, Vanderploeg J, Panchbhaya A, Vitkin A, Jacobs JR.(2015) Talin Is Required Continuously for Cardiomyocyte Remodeling during Heart Growth in Drosophila. PLoS One. 2015 Jun 25;10(6)
- Vanderploeg J, Jacobs JR.(2015) Talin is required to position and expand the luminal domain of the Drosophila heart tube. Dev Biol. 2015 Sep 15;405(2):189-201.
- Vanderploeg J, Vazquez Paz LL, MacMullin A, Jacobs JR. (2012) Integrins are required for cardioblast polarisation in Drosophila. BMC Dev Biol. 12:8.
- Knox J, Moyer K, Yacoub N, Soldaat C, Komosa M, Vassilieva K, Wilk R, Hu J,Vazquez Paz Lde L, Syed Q, Krause HM, Georgescu M, Jacobs JR. (2011) Syndecan contributes to heart cell specification and lumen formation during Drosophila cardiogenesis. Dev Biol. 356:279-90.
- Moyer KE, Jacobs, JR. (2008) Varicose: a MAGUK required for the maturation and function of Drosophila septate junctions. BMC Dev Biol. 8:99
- MacMullin A and Jacobs, JR. (2006) Slit coordinates cardiac morphogenesis in Drosophila. Dev Biol. 293:154-64.
- Settle, M., Gordon, M.D., Nadella, M., Dankort, D., Muller, W., Jacobs, J.R. (2003) Genetic identification of effectors downstream of Neu (ErbB-2) autophosphorylation sites in a Drosophila model.Oncogene 22:1916-1926.
- Stevens, A. and Jacobs, J.R. (2002) Integrins Regulate Responsiveness to Slit Repellent Signals J. Neurosci. 22: 4448-4455.
- Battye, R.A., Stevens, A., Perry, R., and Jacobs, J.R. (2001) Repellent signaling from Slit requires the Leucine Rich Region. J. Neurosci . 21:4290-4298
- Jacobs, J.R. (2000) The Midline Glia of Drosophila: A molecular genetic model for the developmental functions of glia. Prog. Neurobiol. 62:475-508
