Warren
Tourtellotte, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Pathology (Neuropathology), Neurology and Neuroscience
Scientific Director, Northwestern University Transgenic and Targeted Mutagenesis Laboratory
To contact Dr. Tourtellotte:
Phone: 312-503-2415
E-mail: warren@northwestern.edu
Dr.Tourtellotte's website
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Research Interests
The laboratory of Warren Tourtellotte is studying the function of a family
of immediate early gene transcriptional regulators known as Egr1, Egr2, Egr3
and Egr4. Their research focuses on their function during development of the
mammalian nervous system and during oncogenesis. They, and others, have discovered
that these transcription factors regulate a variety of developmental processes
including hindbrain organization, peripheral nerve myelination, male and female
fertility, and muscle mechanoreceptor development involved in limb position
perception (proprioception). Moreover, they are involved in a variety of solid
tissue tumors and hematopoietic malignancies.
A variety of strategies are used in the laboratory to understand their role in development and tumorogenesis. Loss-of-function mice have been generated for each gene in the Egr family and several overexpressing transgenic mice have also been generated. Phenotypic analysis has identified developmental processes that critically depend upon Egr mediated gene transcription. To identify target genes that are regulated by Egr transcription factors during cellular growth and differentiation, Dr. Tourtellotte’s lab is using differential subtraction techniques including suppression subtraction hybridization (SSH) and microarray analysis. To identify target genes that are directly regulated by these transcription factors, they are using chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and CpG island microarray analysis.