Name: Daniel L Weeks

Position: Professor of Biochemistry

Research Description:

My lab has been interested in understanding the regulation of early development using Xenopus embryos. Our current efforts focus on the formation and function of amyloids and other protein aggregates during oogenesis and early embryogenesis in Xenopus. We believe that the formation and dissolution of protein aggregates play a previously unrecognized roles that impacts many seminal regulatory events in development.  We have establish a the proteome of aggregating and aggregates associated proteins in the oocyte nucleus and have started to analyze conditions that stabilize and destabilize protein aggregation  in nuclei and during early development. Within this context, the formation of toxic protein aggregates may, in part, be the failure of senescent cells to maintain their ability to regulate the formation and dissolution of aggregates.  We are exploring how changes in cellular environment, including the documented reduction in steady state levels of ATP in aging cells, impact aggregate dynamics. 
 In the past we have made contribution to a variety of areas including studies on localization of mRNAs, genes required for normal heart formation and function and regulation of ear development. We have been a pioneering lab for the design and synthesis of chemically modified oligonucleotides to alter protein and gene expression, and in developing new methods to take advantage of the Xenopus model system. We generated the first confocal atlas of the developing Xenopus heart and shared it with the community via deposit on the Xenbase Web site. We are active in local, national and international collaborations. A full listing of publications can be found at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/daniel.weeks.1/bibliography/public/

Lab Memberships

Weeks Laboratory (Principal Investigator/Director)

Contact Information

Address:
Dept. of Biochem and Mol. Biol.
4-710 BSB
Carver College of Medicine
Univ. of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa
52242, USA

Email: daniel-weeks@uiowa.edu
Web Page: https://medicine.uiowa.edu/biochemistry/profile/daniel-weeks
Phone:  319 335 7918