Stephen Smale, PhD

The research in Dr. Stephen Smale's laboratory is diverse and revolves around his interests in gene regulation, molecular immunology, stem cell biology and oncogenesis/leukemogenesis. One major area of interest is the molecular mechanisms of pro-inflammatory gene regulation, with an emphasis on transcriptional cascades induced by inflammatory stimuli and the contributions of chromatin structure to the selective regulation of pro-inflammatory genes. A second interest is the selective functions of the five members of the NF-kappa-B family of transcription factors. Smale's lab also studies the mechanisms by which Ikaros family proteins regulate lymphocyte development and leukemogenesis, and the mechanisms by which developmentally regulated genes acquire competence for transcriptional activation in embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells.

Tong AJ, Liu X, Thomas BJ, Lissner MM, Baker MR, Senagolage MD, Allred AL, Barish GD, Smale ST. A Stringent Systems Approach Uncovers Gene-Specific Mechanisms Regulating Inflammation. Cell. 2016 Mar 24;165(1):165-79. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2016.01.020. Epub 2016 Feb 25.

Arenzana TL, Schjerven H, Smale ST. Regulation of gene expression dynamics during developmental transitions by the Ikaros transcription factor. Genes Dev. 2015 Sep 1;29(17):1801-16. doi: 10.1101/gad.266999.115. Epub 2015 Aug 27.

Smale ST, Tarakhovsky A, Natoli G. Chromatin contributions to the regulation of innate immunity. Annu Rev Immunol. 2014;32:489-511. doi: 10.1146/annurev-immunol-031210-101303. Epub 2014 Feb 6. Review.

Schjerven H, McLaughlin J, Arenzana TL, Frietze S, Cheng D, Wadsworth SE, Lawson GW, Bensinger SJ, Farnham PJ, Witte ON, Smale ST. Selective regulation of lymphopoiesis and leukemogenesis by individual zinc fingers of Ikaros. Nat Immunol. 2013 Oct;14(10):1073-83. doi: 10.1038/ni.2707. Epub 2013 Sep 8.

Bhatt DM, Pandya-Jones A, Tong AJ, Barozzi I, Lissner MM, Natoli G, Black DL, Smale ST. Transcript dynamics of proinflammatory genes revealed by sequence analysis of subcellular RNA fractions. Cell. 2012 Jul 20;150(2):279-90. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2012.05.043.