Adult stem cells within many tissue-types are under intense investigation, but additional basic understanding of their establishment, behavior and maintenance is required to realize their potential for therapeutic use and to assess their relationship to cancer. Invertebrate model organism stem cells are relatively easily manipulated in vivo, and can help uncover basic principles that underlie analogous systems in humans. Professor Hubbard's research uses the C. elegans germ line as a model to study the control of stem cell proliferation. These studies employ genetic, molecular and cell-biological techniques to analyze germ cell behavior in normal and mutant conditions that alter proliferation.
Michaelson D, Korta DZ, Capua Y, Hubbard EJ. Insulin signaling promotes germline proliferation in C. elegans. Development. 2010 Feb;137(4):671-80.
McGovern M, Voutev R, Maciejowski J, Corsi AK, Hubbard EJ. A "latent niche" mechanism for tumor initiation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Jul 14;106(28):11617-22.
Voutev R, Hubbard EJ. A "FLP-Out" system for controlled gene expression in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 2008 Sep;180(1):103-19.
Hubbard EJ. Caenorhabditis elegans germ line: a model for stem cell biology. Dev Dyn. 2007 Dec;236(12):3343-57. Review.
Voutev R, Killian DJ, Ahn JH, Hubbard EJ. Alterations in ribosome biogenesis cause specific defects in C. elegans hermaphrodite gonadogenesis. Dev Biol. 2006 Oct 1;298(1):45-58. Epub 2006 Jun 8.
Maciejowski J, Ugel N, Mishra B, Isopi M, Hubbard EJ. Quantitative analysis of germline mitosis in adult C. elegans. Dev Biol. 2006 Apr 1;292(1):142-51. Epub 2006 Feb 15.