The Gilmore Lab

Biology Department, Boston University
24 Cummington Mall
Boston, Massachusetts 02215-2406, USA

617-353-5444; 617-353-6340 (fax)

The Gilmore Laboratory is part of the Cell & Molecular Biology Division within the Biology Department at Boston University, and is also part of the following Interdepartmental Programs:  Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Molecular Biology, Cell Biology & Biochemistry; and Bioinformatics. In addition, Dr Gilmore is part of the Center for Chemical Methodology & Library Development.  Dr Gilmore’s laboratory applies molecular, genetic, cellular and biochemical techniques to study a family of transcription factors called the Rel/NF-kB family. Transcription factors are proteins that are involved in the regulation of gene expression (gene expression leads to protein synthesis). Some of these Rel proteins are oncogenic factors. That is, certain members of this family have the ability to cause or contribute to cancer development. The REL gene, for example, is amplified in many human lymphomas, and overexpression of the human REL gene can cause malignant changes in lymphoid cells in tissue culture. Under normal physiological conditions, Rel proteins are regulated by other proteins such as IkB inhibitor proteins and do not cause oncogenesis. The significance of the research projects is that when certain human Rel proteins are mutated, they are not regulated properly, and can cause cancer, primarily lymphoid cell cancers like leukemia and lymphoma.