Michelle Turski

I am a graduate student in the lab of Dr. Dennis Thiele in the Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Cancer Biology. There are two main research foci in our lab:  copper and iron homeostasis/biology and cellular stress pathway.  My particular niche in the lab is utilizing the fruit fly to understand the important functions of copper in the development of metazoan organisms. 

Copper is an essential trace element that serves as co-factor for numerous proteins important in development and biology.  Maintaining appropriate levels of copper in organisms is crucial and when the homeostatic balance is disrupted disease results as evidenced by Menkes disease, a disease caused by copper deficiency, and Wilson disease, a disease caused by excess copper.  Additionally, mice mutant for CTR1, a copper transporter that serves as the entryway through which copper can get into cells, die early in embryogenesis with widespread and severe developmental defects.  Currently, I am working on characterizing a Drosophila copper transporter, and my work thus far implicates a requirement for copper to successfully execute developmental transitions and possibly a role for copper in promoting developmentally important behaviors.

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