Primary Research Focus
The nuclear envelope sits at the critical interface between the cell’s nucleus and cytoplasm. Therefore, it should be no surprise that defects in nuclear envelope constituents give rise to a myriad of rare diseases. The Roux lab seeks to understand the structure and function of the nuclear envelope in health and disease and to uncovering the underlying mechanisms of nuclear envelopathies.
In response to barriers in his research on the nuclear envelope, Dr. Kyle Roux established a method called BioID to screen for protein proximity and interactions in living cells, thus overcoming several limitations intrinsic to conventional approaches. Since it is uniquely capable of screening for protein associations in living cells, BioID is rapidly becoming an established method used by the scientific community.
Dr. Roux’s ongoing research program is focused on further development and applications of BioID, and combining BioID with conventional approaches to study the structure and function of the nuclear envelope and its associated diseases.
Defects in a cellular structure termed the nuclear envelope are associated with a myriad of diverse diseases, collectively called nuclear envelopathies. Most of these disorders clinically manifest during the first two decades of life and include muscular dystrophy, cardiomyopathy, lipodystrophy, dystonia, neuropathy, skeletal defects, and progeria.
About the Roux Lab
Lab Projects and News
Development and application of BioID
The Roux lab developed BioID to overcome methodological challenges in studies on the structure and function of the nuclear envelope in health and disease. First applied to a disease-associated nuclear lamin, the lab demonstrated that BioID effectively identifies proximate and interacting proteins.
Revealing how cells respond to loss of nuclear envelope barrier function
A primary function of the nuclear envelope is to compartmentalize the nucleus. Loss of this barrier function is increasingly being understood to occur under various pathological conditions and may well be the underlying mechanism of disease for some of the nuclear envelopathies. We are studying the process by which the cell responds to and repairs ruptures of then nuclear envelope.
Uncovering mechanisms of disease for the laminopathies
Using novel techniques, we are currently exploring how mutations in lamin A/C lead a wide variety of disorders. Our aim is to identify differential protein interactions between normal and mutant lamins. The results of these studies may uncover the fundamental mechanisms of laminopathies and reveal new treatment options.