Welcome to the Lara-Gonzalez lab!
Mechanisms of cell division and quiescence in development
To control the progression of cell cycle events, animal cells employ a dynamic decision-making web that integrates inputs such as cell size and metabolic status with checkpoint signaling, and damage sensing. In multicellular contexts, intrinsic and extrinsic developmental cues and organismal physiology also feed into the decisions to proliferate, quiesce or differentiate. The circuits that integrate cell-intrinsic and extrinsic information to control cell cycle progression and regulate transitions to and from quiescent states are at the frontier of current research.
The principal goal of our research is to understand how cell cycle decision points are regulated and to determine how these decisions impact and are controlled by developmental context
For most of our research we use C. elegans, a genetically amenable nematode that allows for understanding how cell division works in an organismal context. We use a combination of cell biology, genomic editing, microscopy and biochemistry to understand how cell cycle decisions are regulated from a mechanistic perspective.
We're hiring!
Postdoc ad: https://recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF08228
See our Open Positions page for more opportunities.
Pablo Lara-Gonzalez, PhD
Assistant Professor
University of California, Irvine
School of Biological Sciences
Department of Developmental and Cell Biology
