e-mail: kbrasch@csusb.edu
B.S., Concordia University, Montreal
M.S., Carleton University, Ottawa
Ph.D., Carleton University, Ottawa
Molecular and cellular endocrinology; functional organization of chromosomes and the cell nucleus; influence of drugs and metabolic inhibitors in tissue differentiation.
Structural and molecular modification in tissues targeted by steroid hormones. The current emphasis is on clarification of large-scale changes in cell nuclei following stimulation by the female sex hormone, estrogen (ES). The project utilizes chickens as a model system, specifically the induction by ES of egg-yolk protein synthesis in the liver. When ES is administered experimentally to male chicks, the liver cells are fully and rapidly reprogrammed within 6-12 hours to switch their regular pattern of gene expression to one paralleling that of an ovulating hen. The aim is to identify specific structural and molecular changes in cell nuclei reflective of this switch-over. This information will have broad application in our understanding of how steroid hormones act in regulating cellular differentiation in general.
Ochs, R.L., Stein, T., Andrade, L.E., Gallo, D., Chan, E.K., Tan, E.M. and Brasch, K. (1995). Formation of Nuclear Bodies in Hepatocytes of Estrogen-treated Roosters. Molec. Biol. Cell 6: 345-356.
Brasch, K. and R. L. Ochs. 1995. Nuclear remodeling in response to steroid hormone action. International Review of Cytology, 159: 161-194.
Brasch, K., J. Williams, D. Gallo, T. Lee, and R. L. Ochs. 1994. Nuclear coiled bodies and the nucleolus. Proceedings of the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Microscopic Society of America: 20-21.
Brasch, K., and R. L. Ochs. 1992. Nuclear bodies (Nbs): a newly rediscovered organelle. Experimental Cell Research, 202:211-223.
Brasch, K. 1990. Nuclear protein modification in vitellogenic rooster liver. Cellular and Molecular Biology, 36:659-671.
Brasch, K. 1990. Drug and metabolite-induced perturbations in nuclear structure and function: a review. Biochemical Cell Biology, 68: 408-426.
Brasch, K., S. Harrington and H. Blake. 1989. Isolation and analysis of nuclear bodies from estrogen stimulated chick liver. Experimental Cell Research, 182: 423-435.