Aaron Jacobs, Postdoctoral Student

a.jacobs@vanderbilt.edu

I grew up in Huntington Beach, California. I received my B.S. in Biology from the University of California (UC) Irvine in 1993. Following that I did a brief stint in the Department of Plant Pathology at UC Davis. In 1995, I moved to Los Angeles, where I was a graduate student in the Pharmacology Department at UCLA. My research there focused on the autocrine regulation of nitric oxide production in LPS-treated murine macrophages, and I received my Ph.D. in January of 2003. My interests in the role of autocrine/paracrine molecules as regulators of gene expression and cellular fate led me to the Marnett lab in 2003. I am currently investigating the role of cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase products in cell differentiation. Presently, I work with two model systems: the Caco-2 human colorectal cancer cell line; and human neonatal foreskin keratinocytes. Caco-2 cells differentiate spontaneously when reaching confluence, and begin to express the biochemical markers and morphological traits of intestinal brush-border epithelium. Neonatal keratinocytes differentiate in the presence of high calcium, which induces the expression of genes associated with the process of cornification. These investigations also focus on the involvement of peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPARs) in the differentiation process. My other interests include: collecting antique postcards and WWII memorabilia; water sports (surfing and body-boarding); cinema; classic cars; mixology; and Southern California history.