Margarete Heck
Personal Chair of Cell Biology and Genetics

Address
- Street
-
Queens Medical Research Institute
Edinburgh Bioquarter
47 Little France Crescent - City
- Edinburgh
- Post code
- EH16 4TJ
Current research interests
A common thread throughout my scientific career has been the desire to understand the inner workings of the cell, with particular focus on the architectural organization of the genome, and its impact on function within the interphase nucleus and the mitotic chromosome. I have used Drosophila as a model organism, a genetically tractable system amenable to cytological analysis, in my research group since 1992. In our research, it has been important to exploit cellular, molecular, genetic, and developmental approaches. We have extended our analyses to further examine the function in vertebrate cells (zebrafish, and cultured cell systems) of the novel, essential genes we have identified. Much of our future research will be focused on elucidating the mechanism of action of invadolysin, a conserved metalloprotease we have identified that links mitosis with cell migration, and is, provocatively, localized to the surface of intracellular lipid droplets. Additional studies in the lab are focused on understanding another conserved protein, Poly, identified in my laboratory, that plays a crucial role in mediating insulin signaling. Importantly, both of these genes are conserved amongst metazoan species. Therefore utilizing a tractable genetic model will shed much light on the function of these genes in higher eukaryotes.-
The conserved metalloprotease invadolysin is present in invertebrate haemolymph and vertebrate blood
In:
Biology Open, vol. 8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1242/bio.044073
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Isl1β Overexpression With Key β Cell Transcription Factors Enhances Glucose-Responsive Hepatic Insulin Production and Secretion
(14 pages)
In:
Endocrinology, vol. 159, pp. 869–882
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1210/en.2017-00663
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
A role for the metalloprotease invadolysin in insulin signaling and adipogenesis
In:
Biological Chemistry
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/hsz-2016-0226
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
UK–Russia Researcher Links Workshop: extracellular vesicles – mechanisms of biogenesis and roles in disease pathogenesis, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia, 1–5 March 2015
In:
Journal of Extracellular Vesicles, vol. 4
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3402/jev.v4.28094
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Short survey (Published) -
Invadolysin acts genetically via the SAGA complex to modulate chromosome structure
(17 pages)
In:
Nucleic Acids Research, vol. 43, pp. 3546-62
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkv211
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Invadolysin, a conserved lipid droplet-associated metalloprotease, is required for mitochondrial function in Drosophila
(13 pages)
In:
Journal of Cell Science, vol. 126, pp. 4769-81
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.133306
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Fermitins, the Orthologs of Mammalian Kindlins, Regulate the Development of a Functional Cardiac Syncytium in Drosophila melanogaster
In:
PLoS ONE, vol. 8, pp. e62958
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0062958
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Perturbation of Invadolysin Disrupts Cell Migration in Zebrafish (Danio rerio)
In:
Experimental Cell Research
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yexcr.2013.02.005
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
A shared role for RBF1 and dCAP-D3 in the regulation of transcription with consequences for innate immunity
(18 pages)
In:
PLoS Genetics, vol. 8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1002618
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
A directed miniscreen for genes involved in the Drosophila anti-parasitoid immune response
(7 pages)
In:
Immunogenetics, vol. 64, pp. 155-161
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00251-011-0571-3
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Drosophila poly suggests a novel role for the Elongator complex in insulin receptor-target of rapamycin signalling
In:
Biology Open, vol. 2, pp. 110031
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsob.110031
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Glucocorticoid-Mediated Inhibition of Angiogenic Changes in Human Endothelial Cells Is Not Caused by Reductions in Cell Proliferation or Migration
(10 pages)
In:
PLoS ONE, vol. 5
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0014476
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Dietary Modulation of Drosophila Sleep-Wake Behaviour
(11 pages)
In:
PLoS ONE, vol. 5
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0012062
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
The conserved metalloprotease invadolysin localizes to the surface of lipid droplets
(10 pages)
In:
Journal of Cell Science, vol. 122, pp. 3414-3423
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.044610
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Differential Requirements for MCM Proteins in DNA Replication in Drosophila S2 Cells
(9 pages)
In:
PLoS ONE, vol. 2, pp. -
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0000833
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Sequential loading of cohesin subunits during the first meiotic prophase of grasshoppers
(12 pages)
In:
PLoS Genetics, vol. 3, pp. 204-215
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.0030028
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
The evolution of ATPase activity in SMC proteins
(12 pages)
In:
Proteins: Structure, Function, and Bioinformatics, vol. 63, pp. 685-696
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/prot.20795
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Diverse mitotic and interphase functions of condensins in Drosophila
(18 pages)
In:
Genetics, vol. 172, pp. 991-1008
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.105.050567
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Drosophila CAP-D2 is required for condensin complex stability and resolution of sister chromatids
(15 pages)
In:
Journal of Cell Science, vol. 118, pp. 2529-2543
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.02392
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Cysteine-protease involved in male chromatin remodeling after fertilization co-localizes with alpha-tubulin at mitosis
(6 pages)
In:
Journal of Cellular Physiology, vol. 202, pp. 602-607
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jcp.20157
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)