Michael Krijanovski

Tutoring small groups of adults (2-4) from various countries to improve their English conversational and writing skills.

Project Overview:

In the gut, cellular turnover rates are high in order to maintain proper function. This gives proto-oncogenes a higher chance of becoming oncogenes. The accumulation of these genes within a cell effectively turns the healthy cell into one which can grow uncontrollably. Eventually leading to carcinomas and tumorigenesis in this area. In order to properly regulate gut epithelial cell turnover in organisms, damage sensing genes which direct the release of cytokines are used to communicate between enterocytes (ECs) and intestinal stem cells (ISCs). Little is known about these genes and mechanisms used to regulate the release of these cytokines.

In order to determine which genes are involved in these processes, this project used D. Melanogaster as an animal model for the screening of select gene candidates from a pool of over 500 genes. Once genes which repress intestinal stem cell proliferation are identified via an induced stress response, further research is performed to identify potential human homologs and their function in tumorigenesis.

Relevant Technique(s): Drosophila M. genetic maintenance, Temperature-sensitive gene expression, RNA interference (RNAi), Bacterial culture/maintenance, Immunostaining, Fluorescence microscopy, Drosophila M. tissue dissection

• Patient Rounding
• ED Staff Clinical Needs
• Non-Emergent Patient Transport