Personal Pages
Spring 2012 Classes
- BIOL140B Animal Diversity
- BIOL2227KV Natural History of Belize: Tropical and Cultural Diversity
Research Interests
A. Molecular and Cell Biology of Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy
Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) is an ophthalmological condition in which the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells break free from their monolayer in the posterior retina and migrate into the vitreous chamber. This results in an estimated 10% of patients who suffer from retinal detachments with retinal tears. During PVR, the RPE undergoes an epithelial mesenchymal transformation (EMT) as the intercellular adherens and tight junctions break down between cells. Epithelial and endothelial cells are joined to one another through a junctional complex that includes an adherens junction and an occludens or tight junction. Recent studies from other labs has shown that the loss of cell adhesion during EMT is, in part, under the control of the Notch pathway and that loss of tight junction expression is regulated by the zinc finger repressor Snail, which downregulates the expression of the tight junction molecules occludin and claudin as well as the adhesion molecule E-cadherin.
My lab examines the possible role of the Snail family of transcription factors (Snail and Slug) in the EMT associated with PVR using a pig RPE cell model. Using a combination of molecular and cell biological techniques, we are examining the expression levels of adherens and tight junction molecules following exposure of RPE to freshly isolated vitreous. Specifically, the roles of the Snail family of transcription repressors will be studied.
A number of undergraduate research assistants will work on different aspects of this project which will serve as a learning and research training experience for them. Data gathered during the scope of this work will help to broaden the ophthalmological community's understanding of the molecular triggers that bring about the phenotypic changes observed during PVR.
B. Role of CD46 in the Retinal Pigment Epithelium
Most recently, I have begun work to study the role of a molecule called CD46 and its role in the retinal pigment epithelium. Preliminary data from the McLaughlin lab at the University of Louisville suggests that the complement system may play a significant role in one of the leading diseases causing blindness in the elderly population, age-related macular degeneration. This study looks at a novel role in the retina for a regulatory protein in the complement system, CD46. Using a porcine cell culture model for retinal pigment epithelium, I plan to study this complement regulatory protein, which protects host cells from autologous complement attack, and its interactions with an adhesion molecule, beta1 integrin, to determine whether it plays a role in RPE adhesion to its basement membrane and Bruch's membrane.
Contact Information
If you have questions or comments, email me at: swilt@bellarmine.edu.
Bellarmine University
Department of Biology
2001 Newburg Road
Louisville, KY 40205
502.272.8462