Contact
Email
Phone
Location
LSL N327

Ph.D.: University of Massachusetts Medical Center Postdoctoral Training: Yale University School of Medicine

 

Research Interests

In his memory, we are establishing the Daniel N. Hebert Scholarship to honor his legacy. This scholarship will be awarded to an MCB student who exemplifies Daniel’s passion for science, demonstrates strong rigor, and dedication to scientific excellence. He will be profoundly missed by his colleagues, students, and all who had the privilege of knowing him.

*Our objective is to establish an endowed scholarship and therefore gifts will be directed to a pre-endowment fund. If we do not achieve the minimum threshold to endow ($25K) the scholarship will be distributed for a term of years rather than in perpetuity. 

The Hebert Lab

The focus of my laboratory is to understand the processes involved in the maturation and degradation of proteins that traverse the secretory pathway in the living cell. Protein maturation is a highly assisted process enlisting the help of many cellular factors. We are particularly interested in understanding the role of co-translational folding and modifications that occur in the endoplasmic reticulum, and the involvement of molecular chaperones in these processes. The cell also possesses a quality control system that helps to ensure that only properly folded and assembled proteins are generated. Proteins that are unable to reach their native conformation are targeted for destruction. As our knowledge of protein maturation and quality control increases, it has become clear that a number of common human genetic diseases involve protein maturation defects including cystic fibrosis, albinism, melanoma and heart disease. Current model proteins that our laboratory studies include: tyrosinase, the key protein in melanin synthesis or cellular pigmentation; and the flu viral glycoprotein, hemagglutinin. We employ a variety of cell biololgical, biochemical, and molecular biological approaches to study the maturation and degradation of membrane glycoproteins using cell-free asssays, isolated organelles and live cells.

Links: D. Hebert Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Web Site(link is external)D. Hebert Lab Web Site