Welcome to the Erdman Lab in the Department of Biology at Syracuse University
The Erdman Lab seeks to determine the molecular mechanisms that enable cells to dynamically alter their shape and surface adhesion properties in response to specific developmental or environmental cues. Understanding the roles played by genes involved in cell shape change and adhesion is important to developing our knowledge of eukaryotic cell functions and cell-cell interactions in processes including neurite outgrowth and gastrulation.
Currently, the Erdman Lab has three research projects underway:
- Analyses of a novel paxillin homolog and Rho GTPase signaling modulator, Pxl1p;
- Studies of the functions, traffic, and inhibition of fungal adhesins;
- Functional genomics of fungal control of lipid and membrane homeostasis.
Our projects generally involve a mixture of molecular and cell biological techniques, such as plasmid cloning, PCR, cell fractionation and protein purification, and fluorescence or electron microscopy. We also make use of genetic analyses whenever possible.