Christina M. Hull
 |
Assistant Professor
Office: (608) 265-5441 |
Education
- B.S. 1992, University of Utah;
- Ph.D. 2000, University of California - San Francisco (A.D. Johnson);
- Postdoctoral 2000-2003, Duke University (J. Heitman)
Honors & Awards
- Damon Runyon Cancer Research Fund Fellow, 2001-2003;
- Burroughs Wellcome Career Award in Biomedical Sciences, 2003-2008
- UW/HHMI Career Development Start-Up Award 2004
- March of Dimes Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Research Award 2005-2007
Research Interests
We are interested in understanding the regulatory mechanisms of sexual development in human fungal pathogens. The incidence of infection caused by fungi has risen sharply over the last two decades, and severe fungal infections are often life threatening and difficult to treat. As a group, the human pathogenic fungi have been difficult to study, but the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans has been useful in both molecular and genetic analyses, making it an excellent system for studying human fungal pathogens.
Many virulence properties of C. neoformans that allow it to
cause meningitis in mammals have been identified. One of the most intriguing
findings is that virulence is associated much more strongly with one of
the two mating types (a and 
);
over 95% of all clinical and environmental isolates are of the
mating type. Understanding the differences between a and
cells (cell identity) and the ways in which the mating types interact
will lend insight into how this organism causes disease.
Currently, the focus of the lab is to understand the molecular mechanisms that control cell identity and development in C. neoformans. Using biochemical, genetic, molecular, and cell biological approaches we are elucidating the basic processes and mechanisms important for C. neoformans to reproduce both sexually and asexually. We are also using a mouse model of infection to test the roles of cell identity (mating-type specific) genes in virulence.
We have identified mating-type specific transcriptional regulators that are essential for signaling cell type and controlling mating and sporulation. These homeodomain transcriptional regulators are similar to those found in other fungi but their structures and regulation appear to differ from their nearest homologs. Experiments are underway to identify all of the sexual cycle regulators in C. neoformans and determine how they physically interact with each other (protein-protein interactions) and downstream target genes (protein-DNA interactions) to initiate and control the complex and inherently interesting sexual development process in C. neoformans.
Publications of Note
Hull, C. M. and A. D. Johnson. 1999. Identification of a Mating Type-Like Locus in the Asexual Pathogenic Yeast Candida albicans. Science 285: 1271-1275.
Hull, C. M., R. M. Raisner, and A. D. Johnson. 2000. Evidence for Mating in the "Asexual" Yeast Candida albicans in a Mammalian Host. Science 289: 307-310.
Hull, C. M. and J. Heitman. 2002. Genetics of Cryptococcus neoformans. Annual Review of Genetics. 36: 557-615.
Hull, C. M., R. C. Davidson, and J. Heitman. 2002. Cell Identity and
Sexual Development in Cryptococcus neoformans are Controlled by
the Mating Type-Specific Homeodomain Protein Sxi1 .
Genes & Development 16: 3046-3060.
Hull, C. M., G. M. Cox, and J. Heitman. 2004. The -specific
Cell Identity Factor Sxi1
is Not Required for Virulence of Cryptococcus neoformans. Infection and
Immunity 72: 3643-3645.
Hull, C. M., M-J. Boily, and J. Heitman. 2005. The Cell Type-Specific
Homeodomain Proteins Sxi1
and Sxi2a Coordinately Regulate Sexual Development in Cryptococcus neoformans.
Eukaryotic Cell. (in press)
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University
of Wisconsin - Department
of Biomolecular Chemistry
First published: 01/01/05 Last updated:
1/18/05 Email Biomolecular Chemistry
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