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Faculty forum set for Feb. 21

By Staff | Feb 3, 2012

The first lecture in the Shepherd University’s Faculty Research Forum will be held Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 4 p.m. in the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies with “Early stages of lens induction in Xenopus embryos,” presented Dr. Carol Plautz, assistant professor of biology.

In a search for genes with lens-inducing activity, ldb1 was isolated through an expression cloning strategy. Further investigation revealed the activity to be dependent on the nucleus, suggesting that its action is due to an indirect mechanism. To test the hypothesis that ldb1 mediates induction of an early lens gene by transcriptional activation of lens-inducing signals, ldb1 was tested in several gain- and loss-of-function assays. These data suggest that an ldb1-regulated mechanism comprises the early signal for Xenopus lens induction, laying the groundwork for linking this molecule to activation of known early lens genes.

Other Shepherd Faculty Research Forums topics to be presented this spring are “ADHD Symptoms and Executive Functioning in Young Adulthood” presented by Dr. Anne Murtagh, assistant professor of psychology, Wednesday, Mar. 7 at 4 p.m. in the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies, and “A Woman’s View of Tibet” presented by Dr. Joyce Webb, associate professor of communications, Tuesday, Apr. 10 at 4 p.m. in the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies.

For more information about the Shepherd Faculty Research Forum, visit www.shepherd.edu/aawe