Directory of Experts
Details for Professor Harry Mellor
| Personal details | |
| Name | Professor Harry Mellor |
| Job title | Professor of Biochemistry |
| Department | School of Biochemistry University of Bristol |
| Contact details | This expert can be contacted via the University of Bristol Public Relations
Office. To help us deal with your request, please mention the Directory of Experts when contacting the Public Relations Office. work+44 (0)117 331 8092 email: public-relations@bristol.ac.uk |
| Qualifications | B.Sc.(Edin.), Ph.D.(Bristol) |
| Professional details | |
| Keywords | regulation of intracellular traffic and the actin cytoskeleton by rho family gtpases |
| Areas of expertise | Rho GTPases act as molecular switches that control a wide range of signalling pathways in mammalian cells. Over twenty different Rho family members have been identified so far, but only three have been studied in detail - RhoA, Rac1 and Cdc42. These have been shown to be critical controllers of cell shape and cell movement through their regulation of the actin cytoskeleton. I am trying to understand the functions of the novel Rho GTPases. To do this I combine the use of cell signalling studies with a wide range of cell imaging techniques such as confocal microscopy and time-lapse microscopy of Rho GTPases in living cells. I have become interested in the roles that Rho GTPases play in normal and pathological human physiology and my current studies look at the functions of Rho GTPases in cancer, immune function and angiogenesis. |