Research
Interests: Tendon physiology and repair, role of growth factors
in pituitary function and wound healing, biology of transforming
growth factor type e and granulins
Teaching: Cell
biology, carcinogenesis, inflammation, wound healing, physiology
of growth factors
Dr. Halper’s
primary research interest is in the area of growth factors. She
has identified and characterized transforming growth factor type
e, a member of the granulin family. This growth factor acts as
a mitogen for epithelial and fibroblastic cells and promotes skin
wound healing. In collaboration with a group at McGill University
she has worked on biology of granulins.
Most recently
Dr. Halper has been studying multiple aspects of tendon repair
and physiology. Her laboratory has been analyzing growth and excercise-induced
changes in proteoglycan composition of the avian tendon, and has
developed several innovative methods aimed at detection of carbohydrate
chains attached to proteoglycans. She has characterized a chronic
tendon disorder in horses (so called degenerative suspensory ligament
desmitis) as a systemic disease of connective tissues (better named
as equine systemic proteoglycan accumulation). Her group has also
determined that transforming growth factor ß4 (TGFß4),
thought to be an avian isoform of TGFß is actually a chicken
form of TGFß1.
Selected
Publications:
Halper J, Kim B, Khan A, Yoon JH, Mueller POE. Degenerative suspensory ligament desmitis as a systemic disorder characterized by proteoglycan accumulation. 2006. Biomed Central Veterinary Research 2:12.
Li WI, Brackett BG, Halper J. 2005. Culture supernatant of Lactobacillus acidophilus stimulates proliferation of embryonic cells. Exp.Biol. Med. 230: 494-501.
Halper J, Burt DW, Romanoff MN. 2004. On reassessment of the chicken TGFB4 gene as TGFB1. Growth Factors 22:121-122.
Yoon JH, Brooks R Jr, Zhao J-Z, Isaacs D, Halper J. 2004. The effect of the fluoroquinolone enrofloxacin on avian tendon cell cultures. Arch. Toxicol. 78:599-608.
Yoon JH, Brooks RL Jr, Khan A, Pan H, Bryan J, Zhang J, Budsberg SC, Mueller POE, Halper J. 2004. The effect of enrofloxacin on cell proliferation and proteoglycans in horse tendon cells. Cell Biol. Toxicol. 20:41-54.
Pan H, Halper J. 2003. Cloning, expression and characterization of chicken transforming growth factor β4. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 303:24-30.
Yoon HJ, Brooks R, Kim YH, Terada M, Halper J. 2003. Proteoglycans in chicken gastrocnemius tendons change with exercise. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 412:279-286.
He Z, Ong C, Halper J, Bateman A.2003. Progranulin is a mediator of the wound response. Nature Medicine 9:225-229. doi:10. 1038/nm816
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