Dr. Gail M. Seigel: Center for Hearing and Deafness at the State University of New York at Buffalo
Congratulations to Dr. Gail M. Seigel on winning our Antibody Review Contest. To win the $500 American Express Gift Card, Dr. Seigel submitted a product review for HPA036762 Anti-CRX Antibody Produced in Rabbit. Her review is a great example of how researchers can share their antibody experiences with colleagues and others in the Life Science community:
CRX antibody works very well
“We used the Sigma (HPA 036762) anti-CRX antibody for immunocytochemistry on cytospins of human retinoblastoma cells, with a rabbit polymer as a secondary antibody and DAB substrate. The antibody stained specifically and was very useful for image analysis.”
We also had the opportunity to ask Dr. Seigel a little more about her research and her use of our HPA036762 antibody.
Tell us about yourself:
I grew up in Rochester, NY and obtained my B.S. degree at Rutgers University. I went to Albany Medical College for my Ph.D. studies and then to the University of Rochester for postdoctoral work in retinal cell biology. After the sudden and tragic death of my post-doctoral advisor, Dr. Mary F.D. Notter, I overcame adversity to develop my own independent research program in the field of retinal cell biology. To this end, I established the R28 retinal precursor cell line (now distributed to over 100 laboratories worldwide), and laid the groundwork for our present work by isolating ABCG2+ stem-like cells in retinoblastoma. My lab is located in the Center for Hearing and Deafness at the State University of New York at Buffalo. I commute 140 miles round-trip from my home in Rochester, even through the snowy days of winter. My academic salary is entirely grant-supported, so I write a lot of grants to support my own salary, as well as the salaries of my lab employees. I am very fortunate to have two very reliable and hard-working lab technicians, Meerim Choi and Linda Cassidy, who are doing excellent work while I do the fund-raising, review grants, write manuscripts, etc. In my spare time, I am music director of The Clarinet Collection, a local clarinet choir. I plan to use my Sigma winnings to purchase a treadmill for my basement at home so that I can continue my daily walking exercise routine even during the worst blizzards of western NY.
Tell us about your research:
Retinoblastoma (RB) is the most common primary eye cancer in children and an important clinical problem facing ocular oncologists. One present challenge in the treatment of retinoblastoma is the incidence of metastatic or secondary tumors that reduce life span and quality of survival. Those who survive RB are at increased risk for developing additional malignancies.
Our lab has identified cells in retinoblastoma that behave as stem-like cells and are thought to be responsible for both tumor invasion and resistance to chemotherapy drugs. We also have found that these same tumor stem-like cells co-express adhesive molecules that may aid in metastasis, leading to new tumors at distant sites in the body. In collaboration with Dr. Michael King at Cornell University, we seek to understand how these tumor stem cells invade tissues, as well as potential ways to block tumor spread. In order to eliminate these stem-like cells, we are working with Dr. Bruce Ksander’s lab at Harvard University to understand RB tumor growth and invasion. Here in Buffalo, we are working with Dr. Aiming Yu and Dr. Zihua Hu to understand the molecular pathways involved in the maintenance of the RB stem cell phenotype. We are also using novel ways to differentiate these stem-like cells as a means to understand their behavior and develop new therapies. These multidisciplinary and collaborative approaches will allow us to understand both the metastatic mechanism(s) of RB tumor stem cells, as well as the potential means to eliminate these cells in a meaningful, therapeutic way. This work is currently supported by three grants: The Cornell Center on the Microenvironment & Metastasis through Award Number U54CA143876 from the National Cancer Institute, as well as R21CA127061 (Seigel, PI) and NYSTEM C026412 (Seigel, PI).
How did Anti-CRX (#HPA036762) help you in your research?
As part of our efforts to understand the ability of RB stem-like cells to differentiate into mature retinal cells, we needed to purchase antibodies that would allow us to assess the phenotype of RB cells. CRX (cone-rod homeobox) protein is a photoreceptor-specific transcription factor and one of the earliest photoreceptor markers that we could find. We purchased the CRX antibody from Sigma because the webpage for this antibody gave us a lot of information, including images that convinced us that this particular CRX antibody would perform well in immunocytochemistry applications. This has turned out to be the case, as we will be presenting work on CRX immunoreactivity in RB cells at the upcoming Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology conference in May 2012.
Learn more about submitting a product review for your antibody purchase.
HPA036762 is one of Sigma’s Prestige Antibodies® powered by Atlas Antibodies.
