Research Program: Genetic Mechanisms of Cancer
Associate Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development

bardw001@umn.edu
612-626-7028 — office
612-626-4602 — lab
Preferred method of contact: e-mail

Research Interests

My laboratory is interested in the role of transcription factors in cancer and development. Our work focuses on BCL6 and the DMRT family of transcription factors. In appropriate expression of BCL6 protein leads to the development of diffuse large Bcell lymphomas. We are investigating the mechanisms of transcriptional repression used by the BCL6 co-repressor, BCOR. We are also studying the role of BCOR in the generation of lymphomas and in development, where it has multiple important functions. Some DMRT proteins are important in testis development and may play a role in the generation of cancer. We are investigating their mechanisms of transcriptional regulation.

Selected Publications

Huynh KD, Bardwell VJ. The BCL-6 POZ domain and other POZ domains interact with the co-repressors N-CoR and SMRT. Oncogene 1998;17:2473-2483.

Huynh KD, Fischle W, Verdin E, Bardwell VJ. BCoR, a novel corepressor involved in BCL-6 repression. Genes Dev. 2000;14:1810-1823.

Raymond CS, Murphy M, O'Sullivan MG, Bardwell VJ, Zarkower D. Dmrt1, a gene related to worm and fly sexual regulators, is required for mammalian testis differentiation. Genes Dev 2000;14:2587-2595.

Kim S, Kettlewell JR, Anderson RC, Bardwell VJ, Zarkower D. Sexually dimorphic expression of multiple doublesex-related genes in the embryonic mouse gonad. Gene Expr Patterns 2003;3:77-82.

Volff J.-N, Zarkower D, Bardwell VJ, Schartl M. Evolutionary dynamics of the DM domain gene family in metazoans. J Mol Evol. 2003;57:1-9.

Chevallier N, Corcoran CM, Lennon C, Haijek E, Chadburn A, Bardwell VJ, Licht JD, Melnick A. The ETO protein of t(8;21) AML is a corepressor for the Bcl-6 B-cell lymphoma oncoprotein. Blood 2004;103:1454-1463.

Ng D, Thakker N, Corcoran CM, Donnai D, Perveen R, Schneider A, Hadley DW, Tifft C, Zhang L, Wilkie AO, Van Der Smagt JJ, Gorlin RJ, Burgess SM, Bardwell VJ, Black GC, Biesecker LG. Oculofaciocardiodental and Lenz microphthalmia syndromes result from distinct classes of mutations in BCOR. Nat Genet. 2004;36:411-416.

Gearhart MD, Corcoran CM, Wamstad JA, Bardwell VJ. Polycomb Group and SCF ubiquitin ligases are present in a BCL6 corepressor complex. Mol Cell Biol. 2006;26:6880-6889.

Fahrioglu U, Murphy MM, Zarkower D, Bardwell VJ. mRNA expression analysis and the molecular basis of neonatal testis defects in Dmrt1 mutant mice. Sex Dev. 2007;1:42-58.

Wamstad JA, Bardwell VJ.Characterization of Bcor expression in mouse development. Gene Expr Patterns 2007;7:550-557.

Kim S, Namekawa ST, Niswander L, Ward J, Lee JT, Bardwell VJ, Zarkower D. A mammal-specific Doublesex homolog is a component of male sex chromatin and is required for male meiosis. PLOS Genetics 2007;3:e62.

Kim S, Bardwell VJ, Zarkower D. Cell type-autonomous and non-autonomous requirements for Dmrt1 in postnatal testis differentiation. Dev Biol. 2007; 307:314-327.

Murphy MW, Zarkower D, Bardwell VJ. Vertebrate DM domain proteins bind similar DNA sequences and can heterodimerize on DNA. BMC Mol Biol. 2007;8:58.

Ghetu A, Corcoran CM, Cerchietti L, Bardwel lVJ, Melnick A, Privé GG. Structure of a BCOR co-repressor peptide in a complex with the BCL6 BTB dimer. Mol Cell 2008;29:384-91.

Wamstad JA, Corcoran CM, Keating AM, Bardwell VJ. Role of the transcriptional corepressor Bcor in ES cell differentiation and early embryonic development. PLoS ONE 2008;3:e2814.