James J. Fabrizio
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Chair, Health Professions Advisory Committee Associate Professor of Biology Post-doctoral training, University of Pennsylvania Ph.D., St. John's University B.S., Manhattan College |
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Contact Information Lab Phone: (718) 405-3393 Office Phone: (718) 405-3383 james.fabrizio@mountsaintvincent.edu Science Building 103 and 303 (Lab) |
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Research Interests Our lab seeks to uncover genes involved in the late-stage maturation of spermatozoa in Drosophila. Specifically, since sperm in all animal species occurs within a common cytoplasm, all animals have to resolve individual sperm from this cytoplasm in a process known as spermatid individualization. Indeed, a failure to individualize sperm is the predominant cause of male infertility in humans. Given the genetic similarity (65–70 percent) between Drosophila and humans, we hope our work will shed some light on the molecular mechanisms behind human male fertility. External Research Support Dr. Fabrizio received a National Institutes of Health grant for $200,000 as principal investigator. He will be incorporating methods and knowledge of genetics, molecular biology, cell biology, and genomics to study sperm development in the fruit fly, or Drosophila melanogaster. Recent Publications Fabrizio, J.J., Aqeel, N., Cote, J., Estevez, J., Jongoy, M., Mangal, V., Tema, W., Rivera, A., Wnukowski, J. and Bencosme, Y. 2012. mulet (mlt) encodes a tubulin-binding cofactor E-like homolog required for spermatid individualization in Drosophila melanogaster. Fly 6:4, 261-272; Fabrizio, J.J., Hickey, C.A., Stabrawa, C., Meytes, V., Hutter, J.A., Talbert, C., and Regis, N. 2008. Imp (IGF-II mRNA binding protein) is expressed during spermatogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster. Fly 2:1, 47-52.
Fabrizio, J. J., M. Boyle, and S. DiNardo. 2003. A somatic role for eyes absent (eya) and sine oculis (so) in Drosophila spermatocyte development. Developmental Biology 258: 117–28. |
