Jay Laboratory
Sackler School of Biomedical Research
Tufts University School of Medicine
Department of Physiology
M&V 709

617.636.2957 phone
617.636.0445 fax

Welcome

The Jay lab is centered around functional proteomics, cell motility and axon guidance. The lab is divided into two focus areas: cancer biology and developmental neurobiology. The cancer group is predominantly interested in tumor cell migration, invasion, and apoptosis resistance and is currently applying high-throughput proteomic screens with scFv antibody libraries to search for proteins that mediate these behaviors in cellular models of fibrosarcoma and glioblastoma. The neuro group is working to understand how the growth cone at the tip of a growing axon interacts with its environment. The group uses both chick and zebrafish systems to explore aspects of cellular signaling, cytoskeleton dynamics, and adhesion during development. Both groups overlap in their interests in cell motility.

The lab is built around a central protein-inactivation strategy known as CALI (Chromophore-Assisted Laser Inactivation) and a related technology FALI (Fluorophore-Assisted Light Inactivation). These technologies use light to excite dyes (malachite green, fluorescein, etc.), resulting in the generation of a spatially restricted free radical or singlet oxygen cloud that is toxic to adjacent proteins. We are able to direct the effects of these toxic species by coupling the dyes directly to antibodies specific for a given target protein. This technology can be used to study any cellular process of interest and is very useful in generating functional protein inactivation data to compliment genetic approaches such as RNAi. It is also very useful as a tool for high-throughput functional proteomics including validation of gene microarray data.

Because of our breadth and diversity, the Jay lab is an exciting place to work. The wealth of perspectives contributes to a dynamic learning environment and ensures that you will never look at a problem from only one angle.

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