The Department of Genetic Medicine at Weill Cornell leads a dynamic and innovative translational research program, advancing diverse fields such as Genetic Therapy and Personalized Medicine.
Our translational research program aims to leverage our expertise in genetic therapies and personalized medicine to develop clinical solutions that target the molecular causes of human diseases.
The Department of Genetic Medicine advances treatments and diagnostics through diverse clinical trials, including drug testing and research to better understand diseases.
The Department of Genetic Medicine at Weill Cornell leads a dynamic and innovative translational research program, advancing diverse fields such as Genetic Therapy and Personalized Medicine.
Our translational research program aims to leverage our expertise in genetic therapies and personalized medicine to develop clinical solutions that target the molecular causes of human diseases.
The Department of Genetic Medicine advances treatments and diagnostics through diverse clinical trials, including drug testing and research to better understand diseases.
In the adult rodent, pneumonectomy results in compensatory lung growth characterized by cell proliferation. The molecular mechanisms governing this response remain unknown. We hypothesized that, in the early period postpneumonectomy, upregulated expression of transcription factors drives the growth process. We utilized a cDNA expression array to screen for upregulated transcription factors after left pneumonectomy in adult C57BL/6 mice, using unoperated mice as controls. Quantification of mRNA expression in the remaining lung at 2 h demonstrated a twofold or greater upregulation of six transcription factors: early growth response gene-1 (Egr-1), Nurr77, tristetraprolin, the primary inhibitor of nuclear factor-kappa B (I kappa B-alpha), gut-enriched Krüppel-like factor (GKLF), and LRG-21. Northern analysis was used to quantify the upregulation of expression of these genes relative to sham thoracotomy and unoperated controls. The largest increase was in Egr-1 (4.7-fold > naive). Time-course analysis over the first 24 h confirmed the transient nature of the early upregulation. In the context that postpneumonectomy lung growth is associated with cell proliferation and that genes such as Egr-1, Nurr77, LRG-21, and tristetraprolin have known roles in stress response, vascular biology, embryology, and cellular development, these data support the concept that transcription factors function early in the cascade of events leading to the compensatory response.