Education

B.S., Cell and Structural Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, 1998
M.S., Molecular Biology, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL, 2001
Ph.D., Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 2007
3rd year FIRST Postdoctoral Fellow, 2007 - present

Research Statement

Krüppel-Like Factor 4 (KLF4; also known as gut-enriched Krüppel-like factor or GKLF) is an evolutionary conserved zinc finger containing transcriptional factors with diverse regulatory functions in cell growth, proliferation, differentiation and embryogenesis.  The mammalian gastrointestinal epithelium is dynamic system in which cell proliferation is coupled to differentiation.  Importantly, aberrations in this process frequently lead to colorectal cancer. Previous studies have demonstrated that KLF4 is a tumor suppressor in colorectal cancer and involved in regulation of centrosome duplication.  Abnormal amplification of centrosomes has been shown to contribute to chromosome instability by increase the frequency of mitotic defects. Currently we are testing the role of KLF4 in the maintenance of genomic instability.

Publications

Hagos, E.G., Ghaleb, A.M., Dalton, W.B., Bialkowska, A.B., Yang, V.W. (2009) Mouse embryonic fibroblasts null for the Krüppel-like factor 4 gene are genetically unstable. Oncogene. 28:1197-1205.

Fan, X., Hagos, E.G., Xu, B., Sias, C., Kawakami, K., Burdine, R.D., Dougan, S.T. (2007) Nodal signals mediate interactions between the extra-embryonic and embryonic tissues in zebrafish. Dev Biol. 310(2):363-78.

Hagos, E.G., Fan, X., Dougan, S.T. (2007) The role of maternal Activin-like signals in zebrafish embryos.
Dev Biol. 309(2):245-58.

Hagos, E.G. and Dougan, S.T. (2007) Time-dependent patterning of the mesoderm and endoderm by Nodal signals in zebrafish. BMC Developmental Biology, 7:22.

Emory University School of Medicine
Department of Medicine
Division of Digestive Diseases
Whitehead Biomedical Research Bldg., Room 275
Tel: 404.712.8415
Email: engda.hagos@emory.edu