Maryanne McClellan

Reed College
Portland, OR 97202

Office: Biology B210
(503) 777-7263
e-mail: Maryanne.McClellan@reed.edu

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EDUCATION

TEACHING

RESEARCH

STUDENT THESES

POSTER PRESENTATIONS

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

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EDUCATION

Auburn University, B.S., 1971
Colorado State University, M.S., 1975
Colorado State University, Ph. D., 1979
Oregon Regional Primate Center - NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, 1980-81

TEACHING

(look in Courses folder for materials)

Bio 272 Reproductive Biology
Reproductive Biology is taught in a lecture/conference format. We focus on comparative vertebrate reproduction beginning with the cell biology of meiosis, fertilization, gamete production and the conundrum of the cost of sexual reproduction. We examine comparative modes of reproduction, sex determination, hormone action and parental investment. Small groups of students lead one conference during the semester chosen from among several suggested topics.

Bio 372 Cellular Biology
Cellular Biology is an upper division lecture/laboratory/conference course that emphasizes relationships between structure and function in cellular activities. We explore the origins of eukaryotic cells, the structure, synthesis and discrete distribution of cellular proteins and the notion that cellular energy is information. We also discuss topics such as how cells transduce energy, move, reproduce, communicate, differentiate and die. Students write take-home essays on topics I suggest in lieu of formal in class exams. The laboratory component focuses on contemporary methodology and includes a six-week independent experiment in the second quarter of the semester. In an optional, weekly evening conference, we review selected literature in preparation for essay exams.

Bio 431 Cellular Regulation
Cells transduce regulatory information from the environment via stereotypical “signal transduction” pathways. In other words, when appropriately stimulated, cells use energy to create the information for selective behavior and genome use. Using the primary literature, we explore examples of G protein-coupled receptor, steroid hormone receptor and receptor tyrosine kinase action and ask how specific cellular outcomes are achieved through signal processing and integration. Cellular Regulation is taught as a weekly 2-hour journal club for students with junior standing and a previous molecular or cellular biology course. Individual students participate in leading conferences during the semester one of which is centered on a primary research article/topic chosen by the student.

I also teach in the team-taught course Introductory Biology.

RESEARCH

I am broadly interested in vertebrate reproduction and specifically in estrogen action. Currently, my laboratory is focused on understanding mechanisms of gene repression in response to acute estrogen treatment. Genome-wide strategies to find targets of estrogen receptor alpha (ERa) in cultured breast cancer cells have turned up a surprising number of genes whose transcription is inhibited by hormone treatment. Using some of these newly discovered ERa targets, we are studying the molecular mechanism/s of estrogen-dependent gene repression. By binding to estrogen and other environmental compounds that mimic estrogen, ERs alter the expression of particular genes during development, reproduction and disease. ER status is an important therapeutic indicator in breast cancer, and presumably the disease state results in part from aberrant gene expression.

RECENT STUDENT THESES

» Thesis Student Slideshow

The following is a list of senior theses completed by students in my lab. To view some of these students' published abstracts go to: http://www.reed.edu/biology/theses/

• Matt Milton – Estrogen inhibition of gene-specific cyclin T binding during transcriptional repression
• Camille Charlier – Chronic Stress Mediated by the Immune System Causes Depression
• David Toffey – Interaction between melatonin and estrogen in breast cancer
• Chuck Pham – The expression of microRNA in cancer.
• Stephen Eichhorn – Identification of a large set of direct mRNA targets of microRNA 134, a brain-enriched microRNA. Class of 21 Award recipient
• Jordan Kohn – The putative testis-differentiating gene, Dmrt1, is expressed in both males and females during sec-determination in threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)
• Emmeline Chuu – Mechanisms of estrogen-mediated gene repression.
• Claire Matturro – Lactoferrin as a Potential Anti-proliferative Agent: Lactoferrin Exhibits Inhibitory Transcriptional Control over Skp1
• Emily Kam – Change in Localization of the Ubiquitin Ligase Nedd4 in the Presence of 17-ß Estradiol in MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells
• Aroon Karra – Determining the Interval of Estrogen-Mediated Gene Repression on the ER Target Gene N4BP3 in MCF-7 Human Breast Cancer Cells
• Zack Lewis – Proliferation of Priumordial Germ Cells and Sex Differentiation in Threespine Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) Class of 21 Award recipient
• Leigh Ann Curran – Effect of 17-ß Estradiol on FoxA1 Localization in MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells
• Cooper French – GABAergic Signaling Regulates Growth Cone Motility in Newborn Neurons of the Dentate Gyrus
• Meera Patel – A phosphoinositide 3-Kinase Like Kinase Blocks Transcription of Cyclin G2 in NCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells
• Victoria Jenkins – Effects of 17- ß-Estradiol on Regulation of Retinoic Acid X Receptor a in Breast Cancer Cells
• Susannah Wegner – Bisphenol A Enhances ER Recruitment to Estrogen-Responsive Genes in MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells
• Biochemistry/Molecular Biology: Christofer Boniface – ß-Arrestin is a Putative Target of 17- ß-Estradiol-Mediated Splice Site Regulation in MCF7 Human Breast Cancer Cells

POSTER PRESENTATIONS BY SUMMER RESEARCH STUDENTS

• Emmeline Chuu – “Exploring Estrogen-mediated Gene Repression in MCF-7 Cells”
• Jordan Kohn – “Sex-specific Migration of Primordial Germ Cells in Three-Spine Stickleback”
• Zachary Lewis – Design of an in situ Hybridization Probe for Primordial Germ Cells in Three-Spine Stickleback.
• Claire Matturro – Estrogen Receptor-mediated Gene Repression
• Victoria Jenkins – Identification of Novel DNA Targets of Estrogen Receptor alpha in MCF7 Breast Cancer Cells
• Susannah Wegner – Estrogen Induces Recruitment of Estrogen Receptors and RNA Polymerase II to the microRNA326 Precursor in MCF7 Cells.
• Meera Patel – Estrogen Dependent Activation/Repression of Novel Estrogen Receptors Target Genes

PUBLICATIONS

Maintained by the Reed College Biology Department
Questions/Comments to Maryanne.McClellan@directory.reed.edu