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Faculty
Theresa O'Halloran
Associate Professor in Molecular Cell & Developmental Biology

Email: t.ohalloran@mail.utexas.edu
Main Office: PAT 242
Phone: 232-6101

Alternate Office: PAT 235
Alt. Phone: 471-0862

Mailing Address
The University of Texas at Austin - ICMB
1 University Station C0930
24th and Speedway
Austin ,TX 78712-1095
Theresa O

Research Summary

The membranes of eukarytoic cells are in continual flux, trafficking receptors and other proteins to their appropriate intracellular destinations. This process is important to signal transduction, cancer, and development. The overall goal of my lab is to understand how membrane traffic is regulated in normal cells and how this process goes awry in diseased cells. Our research is designed to identify and understand the cellular proteins that form, direct and regulate traffic. Currently, we are focusing on the proteins that form the structural coat of endocytic vesicles, with a particular focus on the clathrin coat. Our strategies include phenotypic analysis of cells harboring mutant clathrin, use of video microscopy to track labeled proteins in living cells, and genetic screens to isolate genes that function in endocytosis. As model systems we use the soil ameoba, Dictyostelium discoideum,. This unicellular organism offers genetic advantages as well as robust membrane trafficking pathways. We also use cultured mammalian cell lines to translate our research into a complex eukaryotic cellular model.