Dr. William Brook
 PhD (Alberta), BSc (Hons.) (Queen's)
AHFMR Senior Scholar
Associate Professor
Departments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology,
Tel: (403) 220-8420
Fax: (403) 270-0737
Email:
Research Interests
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My lab studies organ development in the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster). We study how cell-cell signaling pathways and transcription factors control patterning and growth in limb development. These genetic pathways are evolutionarily conserved and play significant roles in vertebrate development, human malignancies and inherited diseases. The second area of research is to study the role of transcription factors in heart development. Many genes known to cause human congenital heart diseases, the most prevalent congenital anomalies, were first identified because of their role controlling the specification and differentiation of cardiac mesoderm in fly heart development. We study how the conserved Tbx20 transcription factors act in fly heart development and cardiac gene regulation with the goal of identifying novel genes and genetic interactions that may also influence vertebrate development and human disease.
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Selected Publications
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W.J. Brook. 2000. Hedgehog signaling and the axial patterning of Drosophila wings. Biochemistry and Cell Biology 78, 585-591.
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P.C. Svendsen, S.D.G. Marshall, M. Kyba, and W.J. Brook. 2000. The combgap locus encodes a zinc finger protein that regulates cubitus interruptus in limb development in Drosophila melanogaster. Development 127, 4083-4093.
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D.A. Dansereau, M. Lunke, A. Finkielsztein, M.A. Russell, and W. J. Brook. 2002. hephaestus encodes a Polypyrimidine Tract Binding Protein that regulates Notch signalling during wing development in Drosophila melanogaster. Development 129, 5553-5566.
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J.O. MacKay, K.H. Soanes, A. Srivastava, A.J. Simmonds, W.J. Brook, and J. B. Bell. 2003. An in vivo analysis of the vestigial gene in Drosophila melanogaster reveals domains required for a Vg activation function. Genetics 163, 1365-1373.
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M. Buescher*, P. C. Svendsen*, M. Tio, C. M. Miskolczi-McCallum, G. Tear, W. J. Brook, and W. Chia. 2004. Drosophila T-box proteins break the symmetry of Hedgehog-dependent activation of wingless. Current Biology 14, 1694-1702.
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C.M. Miskolczi-McCallum, R.J. Scavetta, P.C. Svendsen, K.H.Soanes, and W.J. Brook. 2005. The Drosophila melanogaster T-box genes midline and H15 are conserved regulators of heart development. Developmental Biology 278, 459-472
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P.C. Svendsen, A. Formaz-Preston, S. M. Leal, and W.J. Brook. 2009. The T-box genes midline and H15 specify ventral fate in leg development. Development, 136, 2689-2693.
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