Department of Medicine Faculty

Academic Interests

Dr. Holaska's research goals are to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying nuclear envelope regulation of fundamental cellular processes, including RNA transcription and genomic architecture. My lab focuses on one of these inner nuclear envelope proteins, emerin, to test how the nuclear envelope regulates gene expression and nuclear architecture. We are specifically interested in understanding how emerin regulates gene expression and muscle stem cell differentiation, and how multiple, biochemically distinct emerin complexes function to integrate the regulation of gene expression and nuclear architecture. Mutations in emerin cause Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD), an inherited disorder causing muscle wasting and irregular heart rhythms. Thus, understanding how emerin regulates fundamental cellular processes will provide significant insight into the EDMD disease mechanism.

Representative Publications

1. Dedeic Z, Cetera M, Holaska JM. (2011) Emerin inhibits Lmo7 binding to the Pax3 and MyoD promoters and expression of myoblast differentiation genes. J Cell Sci, in press
2. Holaska JM. (2008) Emerin and signaling via the nuclear lamina. Circ Res 103, 16-23
3. Puckelwartz MJ, Kessler E, Zhang Y, Hodzic D, Randles KN, Morris G, Earley JU, Hadhazy M, Holaska JM, Mewborn SK, Pytel P, McNally E. (2008) Disruption of nesprin-1 produces an Emery Dreifuss Muscular Dystrophy-like phenotype in mice. Hum Mol Genet 18, 607-620.
4. Holaska, JM and Wilson KL. (2007) An emerin proteome: purification of distinct emerin-containing complexes from HeLa cells suggests a molecular basis for diverse roles including gene regulation, mRNA splicing, signaling and nuclear architecture. Biochemistry 46, 8897-8908.
5. Holaska, JM and Wilson KL. (2006) Lmo7, an emerin-binding protein that shuttles between the cell surface and nucleus and regulates emerin transcription. Hum Mol Genet 15, 3459-3472