Harry S. Nick, Ph.D.
Professor and Associate Director McKnight Brain Institute
Neuroscience
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Harry S. Nick, Ph.D. |
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Gene Expression and Regulation in the Inflammatory Response. Our laboratory is interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms which control tissue specific gene regulation. Research has focused on proteins which exhibit both pro- and anti-inflammatory activities in the lung, intestine and brain. These genes include manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), a potent cyto-protective anti-oxidant protein, cytoplasmic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2) isoforms alpha and gamma which control intracellular levels of arachidonate metabolites and the microsomal praostaglandin E synthase (mPGES) gene which is responsible for the generation of prostaglandin E2 , a potent local mediator of the inflammatory response. These genes are also linked through transcriptional regulation by a subset of pro-inflammatory mediators, including bacterial endotoxin (LPS), interleukin 1 (IL-1), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) and interferon-γ. |
Status: Inquire About New Students This Year Contact Information: office: R3-116 lab: R3-140 phone: 352-392-3303 email: hnick@ufl.edu Home Page Biography: Harry S. Nick received his Ph.D. in 1982 in Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania and studied protein-DNA interactions using high resolution NMR spectroscopy. He was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University and subsequently at Biogen Research Corp. under the mentorship of Dr. Walter Gilbert where he was involved in the development of in vivo footprinting methodology to detect protein-DNA interactions at single nucleotide resolution . In 1985, he joined the faculty in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Florida and in 1997 he moved to the Department of Neuroscience. He is also currently the Associate Director of the University of Florida McKnight Brain Institute. |
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