DR. JAMES D. McGHEE

B.Sc. (Toronto), Ph.D. (Oregon) - Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.

Affiliations: Member - Genes and Development Research Group.

Research Interests:

The focus of my laboratory is understanding the molecular basis of lineage-specific gene expression. How does one particular cell know that it will produce an intestinal cell, for example, and not a muscle or a neuron? The experimental system on which we work and which we have been developing for the past dozen years is the development of the intestine in the simple nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. This is a wonderfully simple lineage because the entire intestine derives from a single cell in the 8-celled embryo. The aim is to understand what transcription factors and what transcription factor cascades operate within the developing intestine, in order to turn on the genes that encode the structural proteins and enzymes that allow the intestine to function.

Representative phenotype of the mutant strain isolated in a screen for genes involved in gut development and differentiation. The homozygous mutant displays a gut specific defect that results in an obstructed lumen. The top figure show Nomarski optics of the mutant worm and the bottom shows the build-up of fluorescent beads in the anterior portion of the intestine.

Personnel:

View Pub Med for Recent publications & abstracts

Recent Publications:

• Gilleard J.S., and McGhee, J.D. (2001) Activation of hypodermal differentiation in the Caenorhabditis elegans embryo by the GATA transcription factors Elt-1 and Elt-3. Molecular and Cellular Biology 21, 7, 2533-44.
• Marshall, S.D.G. and McGhee, J.D. (2001) Coordination of ges-1 expression between the Caenorhabditis pharynx and intestine.  Develop. Biol.239: 350-63.
• Kalb, J.M., Beaster-Jones, L., Fernandez, A.P., Okkema, P.G.  and McGhee, J.D (2002).  Interference between the PHA-4 and PEB-1 transcription factors in formation of the Caenorhabditis elegans pharynx. J Mol Biol 320, 697-704.
• Patient, R.K., McGhee, J.D. (2002) The GATA family (vertebrates and invertebrates). Current Opinion Genet Dev 12, 416-22.
• Fukushige, T., Goszczynski, B., Tian, H., and McGhee, J.D. (2003) The Evolutionary Duplication and Probable Demise of an Endodermal GATA Factor in C. elegans.  Genetics Genetics 165:575-588.
• McKay, S.J., Johnsen, R., Khattra, J., Asano, J., Baillie, D.L., Chan, S., Dube, N., Fang, L., Goszczynski, B., Ha, E., Halfnight, E., Hollebakken, R., Huang, P., Hung, K., Jensen, V., Jones, S.J.M., Kai, H., Li, D., Mah, A., Marra, M. McGhee, J., Newbury, R., Pouzyrev, A., Riddle, D.L., Sonnhammer, E., Tian, H., Tu, D., Tyson, J.R., Vatcher, G., Warner, A., Wong, K., Zhao, Z., Moerman, D.G. (2003)  Gene Expression Profiling of Cells, Tissues, and Developmental Stages of the Nematode C. elegans.  Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology, volume LXVIII. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press 0-87969-709-1/04. 159-169.
• Bossinger, O., Fukushige,T., Claeys, M., Borgonie, G. and McGhee, J.D. (2004) The apical disposition of the Caenorhabditis elegans intestinal terminal web is maintained by LET-413 Developmental Biology 268: 448-456.
• Fukushige, T., Goszczynski, B., Yan, J., McGhee, J.D., (2005) Transcriptional control and patterning of the pho-1 gene, an essential acid phosphatase expressed in the C. elegans intestine., Developmental Biology, 279, 2, 446-461.
• Goszczynski B., McGhee J.D., (2005)  Reevaluation of the role of the med-1 and med-2 genes in specifying the Caenorhabditis elegans endoderm., Genetics 171,2, 545-555.
• Kormish, J.D., McGhee, J.D., (2005) The C. elegans lethal gut-obstructed gob-1 gene is trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase., Developmental Biology 287,1, 35-47.
• Tarsitano, M., De Falco, S., Colonna, V., McGhee, J.D. and Persico, M.G., The C. elegans pvf-1 gene encodes a PDGF/vegf-like factor able to bind mammalian VEGF receptors and to induce angiogenesis, FASEB Journal, In Press.

Contact Information:

The University of Calgary,
Room 2205 Health Sciences Centre,
3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta
Canada T2N 4N1
Phone (403) 220-4476
Fax: (403) 270-0737,
E-mail: jmcghee [at] ucalgary [dot] ca.