Phiel publishes papers, receives honors

Christopher J. Phiel, assistant professor in the CU Denver College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Department of Integrative Biology, recently has had two papers accepted for publication.

The first paper is a multi-disciplinary effort by Phiel and Professional Research Assistant Colleen Bartman; student Jennifer Egelston; Raibatak Das; and Xiaojun Ren, chemistry.

“A Simple and Efficient Method for Transfecting Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells” was published in Experimental Cell Research and describes the development of a new protocol for introducing DNA into mouse embryonic stem cells, a widely used cell type in academic and industry laboratories.

Phiel explained that the researchers’ new method is comparable to existing methods, but is substantially cheaper -- for the same price of a commercially available reagent that can be used for 250 reactions, they can perform more than 82,000 reactions. He said they hope this new method will allow laboratories working with stem cells to stretch their research dollars.

The second paper is entitled “Gene Expression Profiling in Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells Reveals Gsk-3-Dependent Targets of PI3K and Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling Pathways." It was accepted for publication by “Frontiers in Endocrinology.”

The work provides detailed comparisons of the expression of all genes in different mouse embryonic stem cells in which Gsk-3 activity has been inhibited or genetically deleted. These results provide a broader perspective on how Gsk-3 activity affects gene expression.

Phiel also recently was recognized with a CLAS CRISP award and an ORDE Large Grant award. His research focuses on signal transduction and epigenetics in the context of neurological diseases.