Ann M. Wehman

Assistant Professor, Cell Biology

Faculty

ann.wehman@du.edu

303-871-4458 (Office)

http://portfolio.du.edu/WehmanLab/

Personal

Seeley G. Mudd Building, 2101 E. Wesley Ave. Denver, CO 80210

What I do

My lab uses developmental genetic and imaging approaches to study cell biology, especially the role of proteins and lipids in membrane dynamics

Professional Biography

Since 2020 - Assistant Professor at DU
2013-2020 - Junior Group Leader at the University of Würzburg
2006-2012 - Postdoctoral fellow at the Skirball Institute, NYULMC
1999-2006 - PhD at UC San Francisco
1996-1997 - Technician at OraVax, Inc.
1995-1999 - Bachelor of Science at MIT

Degree(s)

Ph.D., Genetics, University of California - San Francisco, 2006
BS, Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1999

Professional Affiliations

Genetics Society of America
International Society for Extracellular Vesicles
French Society for Cell Biology

Research

Throughout life, cells communicate to coordinate the organism’s response to stimuli. Cells release extracellular vesicles that carry signals to alter development or disease response. Released vesicles can also seal the cell membrane after damage. The goal of our research is to discover how vesicles bud from the surface of cells, how cells take up extracellular vesicles, and what signals extracellular vesicles send in animals. Defining how vesicles form is an essential first step to designing strategies to induce or suppress their formation and thereby determine their signaling capability. This research could also lead to new strategies to monitor or influence disease severity.

Featured Publications

Fazeli, G., Beer, K. B., Geisenhof, M., Tröger, S., König, J., Müller-Reichert, T., & Wehman, A. (2020). Loss of the major phosphatidylserine or phosphatidylethanolamine flippases differentially affect phagocytosis. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, 8, 648. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2020.00648

Beer, K. B., Fazeli, G., Judasova, K., Irmisch, L., Causemann, J., Mansfeld, J., & Wehman, A. (2019). Degron-tagged reporters probe membrane topology and enable the specific labelling of membrane-wrapped structures. Nature Communications, 10. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11442-z

Fazeli, G., Stetter, M., Lisack, J. N., & Wehman, A. (2018). C. elegans Blastomeres Clear the Corpse of the Second Polar Body by LC3-Associated Phagocytosis. Cell Reports, 23(7), 2070-2082. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2018.04.043

Beer, K. B., Rivas-Castillo, J., Kuhn, K., Fazeli, G., Karmann, B., Nance, J. F., et al. (2018). Extracellular vesicle budding is inhibited by redundant regulators of TAT-5 flippase localization and phospholipid asymmetry. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(6), E1127-E1136. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1714085115

Wehman, A. (2016). C. elegans midbodies are released, phagocytosed, and undergo LC3-dependent degradation independent of macroautophagy. Retrieved from http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/27562069

Wehman, A. (2016). Mechanisms and functions of extracellular vesicle release in vivo - What we can learn from flies and worms. Retrieved from http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/27689411