Arturo De Lozanne

The De Lozanne lab is interested in defining the molecular basis of the lysosomal disorder known as the Chediak-Higashi Syndrome. This disease is caused by mutations in a very large gene and results in the loss of a large protein known as Lyst. The size and low abundance of this protein have impaired the detailed analysis of its function and how its absence leads to the dysfunction of lysosomes in CHS patients. They have established a simple model system to study the molecular function of Lyst and closely related proteins in the organism Dictyostelium discoideum. They have shown that the loss of a similar protein in this organism results in the same lysosomal defect. The lab is currently using the wide array of molecular tools available in this model system to dissect the function of Lyst-related proteins and hope to use this as a starting point to better understand the human disease and design potential therapies. The De Lozanne lab is also interested in understanding how eukaryotic cells accomplish the last stage of the cell cycle: cytokinesis. They have identified several proteins important for cytokinesis and have generated knockout mutants lacking these proteins. They then analyze the phenotype of these mutants using a variety of cell biological techniques including imaging of GFP-labeled proteins. One of these proteins called LvsA plays a role in membrane traffic, while another called INCENP binds to chromosomes and microtubules.