Kelly Mayo, PhD

Professor of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Cell Biology
Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences

Research Interests:
Hormones act as chemical messengers to control cell proliferation and differentiation during development and to maintain cellular homeostatis in the adult. Hormones exert their effects by interacting with specific receptor proteins, and the presence of these receptors defines the population of target cells for a given hormone and provides a molecular mechanism by which the hormone exerts its biological actions. Our laboratory is investigating how specific hormones and their receptors modulate critical physiological processes such as growth and reproduction in mammalian organisms.

Part of the laboratory is investigating actions of the peptide hormone, growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH). GHRH is released from the neurosecretory cells in the hypothalamus and acts on the pituitary gland to modulate growth hormone secretion and somatic growth. We identified a G protein-coupled receptor for GHRH that is expressed specifically in the pituitary gland, and are studying hormone binding and signal transduction by this receptor. Mouse models corresponding to gain of function or loss of function alterations in the GHRH signaling pathway are being utilized to understand the involvement of GHRH and its receptor in clinically important genetic disorders of growth hormone secretion and growth.

The remainder of the laboratory is interested in the expression of the reproductive hormones inhibin and activin, dimeric ovarian proteins that control the secretion of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) from the pituitary and also have important roles as intraovarian regulatory factors. Using cell-culture, cell- transfection, and transgenic animal models, we are investigating the expression of the inhibin and activin a, bA, and bB subunit genes in reproductive tissues. We are also exploring the diverse biological activities of the inhibin and activin family of hormones. We are characterizing several recently isolated receptors for activin to determine their patterns of expression in target tissues and to establish their signal transduction properties.