Below are short summaries of the research conducted by the six faculty who currently comprise the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology.

Scott Emr

Prof. Scott Emr joined Cornell University as the Director of the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology in 2007. With his research, Emr investigates the proteins that control cell signaling pathways, chain reactions of protein activations that transmit messages to the nucleus, and membrane trafficking pathways, reactions that control what can enter and leave the cell. He uses tissue cultures to study these pathways, which apply to fundamental problems in biology such as repair of DNA damage, cell signaling of synapses of neurons and regulation of cytoskeleton. These fundamental problems, he said, have medical applications in research about neural diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease as well as other diseases such as HIV. “In some ways we’re working on a Volkswagon,” Emr explained on conducting fun­damen­­­tal biology research. “But in doing so, we find the way a Maserati works.”

Fenghua Hu

Fenghua Hu joined the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology last month after doing her post doctoral research at Yale University. Her research at Cornell involves genes and proteins that are involved in the degeneration and regeneration of axons, the parts of nerve cells that transmit electrical messages from one nerve cell to another. She also investigates the differences between axon growth in the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. This research, she said, is very important in understanding the causes of Dementia, Alzheimer’s disease or other neural damage.

Marcus Smolka

Prof. Marcus Smolka of the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology, is involved in proteomics, the study of the structure and function of proteins. He is focusing on understanding a pathway that detects and repairs DNA damage (one of the hallmarks of cancer). “How does the cell know that there is damage, and what is the kind of signaling that occurs after the cell detects the damage, and what does it do to fix it?” His previous work at the Ludwig Institute of Cancer Research involved determining the components and organization of the pathway, and is now involved in trying to understand how the components work together, by using yeast as a model organism. Another area of Smolka’s research involves preparing samples to be analyzed by the powerful mass spectrometer.

Yuxin Mao

Prof. Yuxin Mao’s research focuses on membrane vesicle trafficking, a major means of communication between and within cells. Mao’s a structural biologist who uses X-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to learn how different proteins are shaped, which determines their mechanical function in the cell. While cells can communicate using a number of signals — neurotransmitters, growth factors, electrical pulses — proteins are of special interest in part because of the variety of their structures. Sometimes, however, researchers have to actually put the protein in the cell and observe its activity to discern biological function. Mao hopes his cellular biology work at Weill will shed light on how molecule structure changes protein function within the cell.

Christopher Fromme

Prof. Christopher Fromme '99 began work on coat protein complexes during his postdoctoral work at UC Berkeley. Vesicles, small spheres derived from biological membranes, effect most transport of proteins between compartments within eukaryotic cells. Protein coats are protein complexes involved in selecting proteins to be transported and aiding in forming vesicles from membranes. For analogy think of winter coats that facilitate the transport of Cornellians from their dorms to class during mid-January. The coats are specific for an individual and encourage the individual to leave his room. Fromme's lab will deal with two protein coats, COPII and exomer.

Anthony Bretscher

Prof. Anthony Bretscher is the associate director for the Weill Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology. According to his website, Bretscher’s “fascinated by the fundamental question of how the internal organization of cells is established, maintained and regulated.” In his research, he focuses on discovering the functions of each protein involved with microfilaments — filaments with proteins and actin molecules that give cells their structure. Yeast and epithelial cells are used as model organisms in his investigations. This research relates to the broader fields of regulation and organization of microfilaments and the cell structure.