Animal and plant cells typically exist in physiologically controlled environments that are always nutrient-rich, yet they proliferate selectively. This is because specific signals from other cells stimulate or limit their growth and proliferation according to rules that benefit the organism as a whole. The goal of our research is to understand some of the genetic logic – or regulatory “circuitry” - that controls cell growth and coordinates it with cell cycle progression in vivo, in the Drosophila model system. Our approach is to use genetic screens to identify genes that act as dedicated regulators of cell growth or the cell cycle, and then determine how these are controlled, upstream, by genetic programming and cell signaling and how, downstream, they regulate growth-related metabolism and the cell cycle control apparatus. In the lab we apply classical and molecular genetics, mosaic analysis, cell imaging, flow cytometry, and gene expression profiling in a number of different cell and tissue types. We aim to define new genes and regulatory pathways involved in growth control that will impact general paradigms in cell and developmental biology, and which may also have relevance to topics in human health such as cancer biology, stem cell therapy, and metabolic disease. Current topics of interest include: Cell cycle exit at differentiation, Endocycle control, TOR signaling, and Intestinal stem cell regulation.

Selected publications

Wang, T., Lao, U., Edgar, B. A. (2009) TOR-mediated autophagy regulates cell death in Drosophila neurodegenerative disease. J. Cell Biol. 186:703-711.

Jiang, H., Patel, P. H., Kohlmaier, A., Grenley, M. O., McEwen, D., and Edgar, B. A. (2009) Cytokine/Jak/Stat signaling mediates regeneration and homeostasis in the Drosophila midgut. Cell 137:1343-1355

Buttitta, L., Katzaroff, A., Perez, C., de la Cruz, A., Edgar, B.A. (2007) A double-assurance mechanism controls cell cycle exit upon terminal differentiation in Drosophila. Dev. Cell 12:631-643.

Grewal, S.S., Li, L., Orian, A., Eisenman, R.N., Edgar, B.A. (2005) Myc-dependent regulation of ribosomal RNA synthesis during Drosophila development. Nat Cell Biol 7: 295-302.

Reis, T., and Edgar, B. A. (2004) Negative regulation of dE2F1 by Cyclin dependent kinases controls cell cycle timing. Cell 117: 253-264.

Frei, C. and Edgar, B. A. (2004) Drosophila Cyclin D/Cdk4 Requires Hif-1 Prolyl Hydroxylase to Drive Cell Growth. Dev Cell 6: 241-251.

Saucedo, L. J., Gao, X., Chiarelli, D. A., Li, L., Pan, D., and Edgar, B. A. (2003) Rheb promotes cell growth as a component of the insulin/TOR signalling network. Nat Cell Biol 5: 566-571.

Britton, J.S., Lockwood, W.B., Cohen, S.M., and Edgar, B.A.  (2002) Drosophila’s Insulin/PI3-Kinase Pathway Coordinates Cellular Metabolism with Nutritional Conditions. Dev. Cell 2, 239–249

Prober, D.A. and Edgar, B.A. (2002) Interactions between Ras1, dMyc, and dPI3K signaling in the developing Drosophila wing. Genes & Development 16, 2286-2299.

Reviews

Edgar, B. and Nijhout, H.F. (2004) Growth and Cell Cycle Control in Drosophila. In: Cell Growth: Control of Cell Size, M.N. Hall, M. Raff, and G. Thomas, eds. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press,  pp. 23-83.