Genetic engineering approaches to cancer immunology

The Jaumouillé lab is interested in immunotherapies that promote the elimination of cancer cells through professional phagocytes. Our goal is to understand the mechanisms that restrict the anti-tumoral capacity of phagocytes to develop more effective therapeutic strategies. Our approach is to employ genetic engineering techniques to study and manipulate immune cells, including CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, chimeric antigen receptors, retroviral and transposon expression systems. Interested students should e-mail Dr. Jaumouillé with a brief description of their research interests and include a current transcripts and CV. (Posted 18Jul2023)

The Hawkins lab studies the role of asymmetrically localized proteins and the Wnt signaling pathway in asymmetric cell division in C. elegans. We have focused on the protein HAM-1, that is asymmetrically localized at the cell cortex in many dividing cells in the embryo. This protein also has a DNA binding domain and localizes to the nucleus. We proposed that the asymmetric localization at the cell cortex is one mechanism to specifically distribute the protein to one of the two daughter cells during division. The goal is to watch the segregation of HAM-1 in living embryos during cell division. To accomplish this goal, the directed research project will involve generating a plasmid construct that fuses the ham-1 gene to a gene encoding a photoconvertible fluorescent protein (Dendra2). This construct will then be used to generate transgenic C. elegans. A series of experiments will then be undertaken to visualize Dendra2::HAM-1 localization and segregation in transgenic embryos.