Dr. Kathrin Schrick

Division of Biology
kschrick@ksu.edu
Departmental Website

“Cholesterol and other small fat soluble molecules play critical roles in cell division during early development. Our team studies the role of sterols (and other lipids) in embryonic development using the flowering plant Arabidopsis as a model system. Many studies in this plant have generated information important to understanding human health. A current focus is on the interactions of these molecules with some homeodomain proteins, which are known to play important roles in regulating the activity of many other genes. Humans have these proteins as well, where they are very important for normal development and, when mutated, are associated with many cancers. The goal of this research is to understand how the interactions of lipids and homeodomain proteins are related to the control of cell division.”