hosein kouros-mehr
My work deals with the role of the transcription factor GATA-3 in mammary development and breast cancer.
I have found that GATA-3 plays a fundamental role in maintaining cellular differentiation in the adult mammary gland and in breast cancer. Previously, I carried out an expression profiling screen to identify the genes that were expressed in the mammary epithelium of mice (Kouros-Mehr and Werb, Dev Dyn 2006).
Through the screen, I identified GATA-3 as the most highly expressed transcription factor in mammary epithelium. Then I showed through genetic (loss-of-function) analysis that GATA-3 maintains the differentiation of luminal epithelium in the adult mammary gland (Kouros-Mehr, et. al., Cell, 2006).
Currently I am exploring the role of GATA-3 during breast cancer progression using mouse models of the disease.