Alexey Veraksa

Department of Biology University of Massachusetts-Boston 100 Morrissey Blvd. Boston, MA 02125 phone: (617) 287-6665 Fax: (617) 287-6650 email: alexey.veraksa@umb.edu

Education

2000 Ph.D. in Developmental Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA
1994 M.S. in Molecular Biology, Moscow State University (MGU), Moscow, Russia

Professional experience

2005-present: Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Boston.

2000-2005: Postdoctoral Fellow, MGH Cancer Center and Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School.

1994-2000: Doctoral Research, University of California, San Diego, Department of Biology, and Yale University, Department of Biology.

Awards and Honors

2002-2003: MGH Fund for Medical Discovery Postdoctoral Fellowship
1995-2000: Howard Hughes Medical Institute Predoctoral Fellowship

Research Interests

Development of multicellular organisms critically depends on the activity of several evolutionarily conserved signaling pathways. My laboratory uses Drosophila as a model experimental system to address two key questions: 1) how cells control the precise quantity of signals transmitted through these signaling pathways, and 2) how cells integrate and interpret different signaling inputs to make an appropriate cell fate choice. We are using classic genetic and biochemical approaches, as well as advanced proteomics methods to study the regulation of developmental signaling. Current research projects in the lab are:

1. Mapping the Notch signaling network with Tandem Affinity Purification-mass spectrometry.

The Notch signaling pathway is a conserved mechanism of intercellular communication that is used in all metazoans to establish molecular differences between adjacent cells. We are using proteomics-based methodology, TAP-MS (for Tandem Affinity Purification-mass spectrometry) to identify in vivo protein interactions between the core components and modulators of Notch signaling (Veraksa et al., 2005). This on-going study has already yielded several candidate proteins that represent novel modes of Notch regulation. We are now expanding our coverage of the Notch signaling network, and biologically validating candidate interactions using Drosophila genetics and biochemistry.

2. Control of developmental signaling by non-visual beta-arrestin.

One of the new Notch pathway interactors identified by the TAP-MS analysis is Kurtz, a Drosophila homolog of mammalian non-visual beta-arrestins. We have shown that Kurtz forms a trimeric complex with the Notch receptor and another Notch protein modulator, Deltex. The formation of this complex leads to an increased ubiquitination of Notch and its proteasomal degradation. These results establish a new level of control of Notch signaling, and define a new function for non-visual beta-arrestins. Current efforts are directed at studying how Kurtz regulates the activity of other signaling pathways during Drosophila development.

Publications

Mukherjee, A., Veraksa, A., Bauer, A., Rosse, C., Camonis, J., Artavanis-Tsakonas, S. (2005) Regulation of Notch signalling by non-visual beta arrestin. Nature Cell Biology 7, 1191-1201.

Veraksa, A., Bauer, A. and Artavanis-Tsakonas, S. (2005) Analyzing protein complexes in Drosophila with Tandem Affinity Purification-mass spectrometry. Developmental Dynamics 232, 827-834.

Moberg, K.H., Mukherjee, A., Veraksa, A., Artavanis-Tsakonas, S., Hariharan, I.K. (2004) The Drosophila F-box protein Archipelago regulates dMyc protein levels in vivo. Current Biology 14, 965-974.

Veraksa, A., Kennison, J., McGinnis, W. (2002) DEAF-1 function is essential for the early embryonic development of Drosophila. Genesis 33, 67-76.

Veraksa, A., McGinnis, N., Li, X., Mohler, J., McGinnis, W. (2000) Cap ‘n’ collar B cooperates with a small Maf subunit to specify pharyngeal development and suppress Deformed homeotic function in the Drosophila head. Development 127, 4023-4037.

Veraksa, A., Del Campo, M., McGinnis, W. (2000) Developmental patterning genes and their conserved functions: From model organisms to humans (Review). Molecular Genetics and Metabolism 69, 85-100.

Pederson, J.A., LaFollette, J., Gross, C., Veraksa, A., McGinnis, W., Mahaffey, J.W. (2000) Regulation by homeoproteins: a comparison of Deformed-responsive elements. Genetics 156, 677-686.

Li, X., Veraksa, A., McGinnis, W. (1999) A sequence motif distinct from Hox binding sites controls the specificity of a Hox response element. Development 126, 5581-5589.

Del Campo, M., Jones, M.C., Veraksa, A.N., Curry, C.J., Jones, K.L., Mascarello, J.T., Ali-Kahn-Catts, Z., Drumheller, T., McGinnis, W. (1999) Monodactylous limbs and abnormal genitalia are associated with hemizygosity for the 2q31 region that includes the HOXD cluster. American Journal of Human Genetics 65, 104-110.

McGinnis, N., Ragnhildstveit, E., Veraksa, A., McGinnis, W. (1998) A cap ‘n’ collar protein isoform contains a selective Hox repressor function. Development 125, 4553-4564.

Kosaki, K., McGinniss, M.J., Veraksa, A.N., McGinnis, W.J., Jones, K.L. (1997) Prader-Willi and Angelman syndromes: diagnosis with a bisulfite-treated methylation-specific PCR method. American Journal of Medical Genetics 73, 308-313.