Sheryl T. Smith
Assistant Professor of Biology
smiths@arcadia.edu
Sheryl Smith received her B.S. in Biology and B.S. in Psychology from King's College in 1988, an M.A. in Biochemistry from The University of Scranton in 1993 and a Ph.D. in Developmental Biology and Teratology from Thomas Jefferson University in 2003. Her postdoctoral training was completed at The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, PA before joining the Biology faculty at Arcadia University in 2007.
Dr. Smith teaches in the General Biology sequence (BI-101,102), Biochemistry (BI-360), Human Genetics and Development, Biotechnology (Forensic Science) and Human Embryology and Teratology (GC-507) for the Genetic Counseling Program.
Research Interests
Development of a multi-cellular organism from a single cell requires cell division and differentiation. Cells become specialized (e.g. cells of the blood, skin, muscle, etc.) by expressing different subsets of genes. The gene expression program unique to each cell type is tightly regulated by numerous mechanisms. Dr. Smith is interested in how gene regulation during development specifies a correct body plan, and conversely, how improper regulation of genes leads to anomalies such as birth defects. She uses Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) as a model system to study a cluster of genes that is highly conserved throughout evolution, and is responsible for specifying proper body structures in the correct order along the anterior-posterior axis of the organism.
Recent Publications
Chen, Q., Lin, L, Smith, ST., Lin Q., Zhou J (2005). "Multiple Promoter Targeting Sequences exist in Abdominal-B to regulate long-range gene activation." Developmental Biology 286: 629-636 Link
Moon H, Filippova G, Loukinov D, Pugacheva E, Chen Q, Smith ST, Munhall A, Grewe B, Bartkuhn M, Arnold R, Burke LJ, Renkawitz-Pohl R, Ohlsson R, Zhou J, Renkawitz R, Lobanenkov V. (2005). "CTCF is conserved from Drosophila to humans and confers enhancer blocking of the Fab-8 insulator." EMBO Rep 6(2):165-70 Link
Smith, S.T., Sedkov, Y., Petruk, S., Cho, E., Tillib, S., Canaani, E., Mazo, A. (2004). "Modulation of the Heat Shock Response in Drosophila by the Chromatin Modifying Complex, TAC1." Nature Cell Biology 6(2):162-167 Link
Sedkov, Y., Cho-Fertikh, E., Petruk, S., Smith, S., Cherbas, L., Cherbas, P., Jones, R.S., Canaani, E., Jaynes, J.B., and Mazo, A., (2003)."Methylation at lysine 4 of histone H3 in ecdysone-dependent development of Drosophila." Nature. 426: 78-83 Link
Petruk S, Sedkov Y, Smith S, Tillib S, Kraevski V, Nakamura T, Canaani E, Croce CM, Mazo A. (2001). "Trithorax and dCBP acting in a complex to maintain expression of a homeotic gene." Science. 294 (5545):1331-4 Link
