Kelly
Mayo, PhD
Professor
Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Cell Biology
To Contact Dr. Mayo:
phone: 847-491-8854
e-mail: k-mayo@northwestern.edu
Dr. Mayo's website
PubMed
Reference Lookup
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.