Timothy C. Hallstrom, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Pediatrics University of Iowa, Ph.D. halls026@umn.edu 612-626-2905 office 612-624-1910 lab

Research Interests:

Apoptosis, Retinoblastoma, E2F, PI3K, Cancer

The Hallstrom laboratory is studying the cellular mechanisms controlling Rb/E2F induced apoptosis during normal proliferation and in cancer development. Rb regulation of cell cycle progression and tumorigenesis is dependent on its control of E2F transcription factor function, a family of proteins that control expression of genes required for proliferation. E2F1, in particular, forms a link between the deregulation of Rb pathway activity and induction of p53-dependent apoptosis. E2F1 apoptosis induction is believed to serve a tumor-suppressive mechanism by eliminating cells that have sustained an oncogenic mutation which activates the Rb pathway.

We are studying several mechanisms that regulate E2F1’s capacity to induce proliferation or apoptosis. One mode of regulation is the binding of Jab1/CSN5, which promotes E2F1 induction of apoptosis but not proliferation. Second, PI3K activation during normal growth stimulation inhibits expression of a subset of E2F1 apoptotic target genes.

Selected Recent Publications:

• Hallstrom TC, Nevins JR. 2009. Balancing the decision of cell proliferation and cell fate. Cell Cycle. Feb 15;8(4):532-5.

• Hallstrom TC, Mori S, Nevins JR. (2008) An E2F1-Dependent Gene Expression Program That Determines the Balance Between Proliferation and Cell Death. Cancer Cell. Jan;13(1):11-22.

• Hallstrom TC, Nevins JR. 2006. Jab1 Is a Specificity Factor for E2F1-Induced Apoptosis. Genes Dev. 2006 Mar 1;20(5):613-23.

• Black EP, Hallstrom TC, Dressman HK, West M, Nevins JR. Distinctions in the Specificity of E2F Function Revealed by Gene Expression Signatures. 2005. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. Nov 1;102(44):15948-53.

• Hallstrom TC, Nevins JR. Specificity in the activation and control of transcription factor E2F-dependent apoptosis. 2003. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 100:10848-53.

Last updated: September 1, 2009