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Research in my lab centers on the
adaptation of fish to changes in temperature. We
are interested in the biochemical, molecular and
cellular attributes that allow some fish, but
not others, to thrive at a wide variety of
environmental temperatures. We are particularly
interested in how cell membranes contribute to
overall cell function during temperate
acclimation. The fish we use include Icelandic
Arctic charr (a salmonid), Icelandic
three-spined stickleback, and Chinook salmon,
rainbow trout and zebra fish cells in culture.
We use the charr and stickleback to test the
hypothesis that fish living for thousands of
generations in an environment free of thermal
variability (i.e., in cold lakes in Iceland)
have lost the ability to restructure their cell
membranes. The cell culture systems allow us to
pursue similar questions in a controlled
laboratory environment.
We also have a keen interest in understanding
the relationship between fish oil and cancer. In
this area we focus on the curious properties of
certain membrane-associated fatty acids, the
omega-3 fatty acids, which are abundant in fish
oil. These fatty acids are intricately linked to
cold-acclimation in fish cells but,
surprisingly, they induce apoptosis, or
programmed cell death, in many types of cancer
cells including mouse leukemias. The basis of
this dramatic difference in the action of the
omega-3s is unclear and under examination.
Most semesters
we have a few openings for students wishing to
explore either the fish or cancer work. |
