Welcome To the Hegde Lab
Our laboratory has two major focus areas:
1) Molecular mechanisms underlying cell-fate determination in embryonic development
2) Structure-function studies of viral proteins
Hegde Lab
Hegde Lab members (left to right) Weiming Bu, Shengyong Hu, Aygun Mamedova, Michael Spencer and Reena Rani.
Molecular Mechanism of Factors Involved in Cell-Fate Determination
Conserved regulatory cascades underlie many stages of early organ development. We have focused on the Retinal Determination Pathway, which was first described in the context of fly eye development, but is now recognized to be critical for the embryonic development of multiple organs including the kidney, ear, and muscle. De-regulated expression of proteins comprising this pathway (Eyes Absent, Dachshund and SIX) has been implicated in breast and ovarian cancers, while mutations in these genes are associated with severe birth defects. We are using solution and cellular biochemistry combined with X-ray crystallography to decipher the molecular mechanisms of the Retinal Determination proteins. Our studies are leading to fundamental new insights regarding these developmental processes, as well as identifying new opportunities for targeted drug development.
Structural and Biochemical Studies of Viral Proteins
The long-term goal of this research program is to understand the structural and mechanistic details of proteins involved in the life- and infection-cycles of disease-associated viruses. Our efforts have been focused in two main areas:
Papillomavirus: Papillomaviruses are a family of small DNA viruses that infect epithelial cells causing both benign and malignant tumors, including cervical cancer. We have determined the three-dimensional structures of the DNA binding domains of the transcription and replication regulatory E2 protein from human papillomavirus strains 16 and 18, as well as bovine papillomavirus strain 1, free and complexed with DNA. In parallel functional studies, we have defined the role of DNA conformation in the ability of the E2 proteins to recognize and bind to specific sites on the papillomavirus genome.
Norwalk virus: The major goals of this project are to unravel the structural determinants underlying the strain-specific receptor-binding patterns exhibited by the Norwalk-like viruses (NLV) . NLVs cause acute gastero-enteritis and are a major epidemic risk in both developing and western countries.
Together these studies not only enhance our understanding of the life- and infection-cycles of important human pathogens, but also provide a foundation for the design of therapeutic strategies.
We welcome interested students and post-docs to join us in these projects. To get more information please contact Dr. Hegde.
How to Reach Us 
The Hegde Laboratory is part of the Division of Developmental Biology at Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation. The lab is located in Location R (Research Foundation Building), Room 3553. For more information, contact:
Dr. Rashmi Hegde
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Division of Developmental Biology
Location R, 3553
3333 Burnett Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45229
Email rashmi.hegde@cchmc.org
Phone 513-636-5947
Fax 513-636-6772
