Development and Organogenesis
Robert A. Schulz     Robert A. Schulz Professor, University of Notre Dame Chair in Biological Sciences PhD, Georgetown University Postdoctoral, Harvard University	e-mail | labpage

Postdoctoral Fellow Positions Available

My research involves using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster to generate and study genetic models for human disease, especially as they relate to abnormalities in heart, blood cell, and muscle development.  Drosophila is a superb model organism for these investigations because of its short generation time, the numerous experimental approaches available, the known DNA sequence of its genome, and the wealth of genetic and information resources on hand and emerging.  Studying problems in Drosophila development has clear ramifications for our understanding of human development and disease due to the substantial conservation of genes between the two species.  That is, greater than 60% of all Drosophila genes have homologues in humans, including many genes known to be causal of or associated with specific diseases.  Research projects ongoing in my lab include identification and analysis of (1) genes required for heart formation, relevant to the study of congenital heart disease in humans, (2) genes controlling blood cell development, with relevance to our understanding of human leukemias, and (3) signaling pathways controlling indirect flight muscle formation and function, relevant to the understanding of certain human muscular dystrophies.  Genetic, developmental, and cell biological approaches are used in these analyses.

 

 

Selected Publications

Gajewski K, Wang J, Molkentin JD, Chen EH, Olson EN, and Schulz RA (2003).

Requirement of the calcineurin subunit gene canB2 for indirect flight muscle formation in

Drosophila. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100, 1040-1045.

 

Fossett N, Hyman K, Gajewski K, Orkin SH, and Schulz RA (2003). Combinatorial

interactions of Serpent, Lozenge, and U-shaped regulate crystal cell lineage commitment

during Drosophila hematopoiesis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100, 11451-11456.

 

Schulz RA and Yutzey KE (2004). Calcineurin signaling and NFAT activation in cardiovascular and skeletal muscle development. Dev. Biol. 266, 1-16.

 

Schulz RA and Fossett N (2005). Hemocyte development during Drosophila embryogenesis.

Methods Mol. Med. 105, 109-122.

 

Sorrentino RP, Gajewski K, and Schulz RA (2005). GATA factors in Drosophila heart and

blood cell development. Semin. Cell. Dev. Biol. 16, 107-116.

 

Wang JB, Tao Y, Reim I, Gajewski K, Frasch M, and Schulz RA (2005). Expression,

regulation, and requirement of the Toll transmembrane protein during dorsal vessel formation

in Drosophila. Mol. Cell. Biol. 25, 4200-4210.

 

Gajewski KM, Wang J, and Schulz RA (2006). Calcineurin function is required for

myofilament formation and troponin I isoform formation in Drosophila indirect flight muscle.

Dev. Biol. 289, 17-29.

Muratoglu S, Garratt B, Hyman K, Gajewski K, Schulz RA, and Fossett N (2006). Regulation of the Drosophila Friend of GATA gene u-shaped during hematopoiesis: A direct role for Serpent and Lozenge. Dev. Biol. 296, 561-579.

Schulz RA and Black BL (2007).  Model systems for the study of heart development and disease.  Semin. Cell Dev. Biol. 18, 1-2.

Tao Y and Schulz RA (2007).  Heart development in Drosophila.  Semin. Cell Dev. Biol. 18, 3-15.

Tokusumi T, Russell M, Gajewski K, Fossett N, and Schulz RA (2007).  U-shaped protein domains required for repression of cardiac gene expression in Drosophila.  Differentiation 75, 166-174.

Gajewski KM, Sorrentino RP, Lee JH, Zhang Q, Russell M, and Schulz RA (2007).  Identification of a crystal cell specific enhancer of the Black cells Prophenoloxidase gene in Drosophila.  Genesis 45, 200-207.

Tao Y, Wang J, Tokusumi T, Gajewski KM, and Schulz RA (2007).  Requirement of the LIM homeodomain transcription factor Tailup for normal heart and hematopoietic organ formation in Drosophila.  Mol. Cell. Biol. 27, 3962-3969.

Sorrentino RP, Tokusumi T, and Schulz RA (2007).  The Friend of GATA protein U-shaped functions as a hematopoietic tumor suppressor in Drosophila.  Dev. Biol. 311, 311-323.

Tao Y, Christiansen AE, and Schulz RA (2007). Second chromosome genes required for heart development in Drosophila melanogaster. Genesis 45, 607-617.