Erika Geisbrecht, Ph.D.
Professor
Contact Information
Office: 173 Chalmers Hall
E-mail: geisbrechte@ksu.edu
Education
B.S. University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1996
Ph.D. The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 2003
Lab Website
Research video
Areas of specialty
- Formation and maintenance of muscle and heart tissue
- Biochemistry and molecular genetics of Drosophila
- Cell signaling in development
Most animals are mobile and spend a considerable amount of their energy and time foraging for food, escaping danger, and searching for a mate. This ability to move requires sensory input from the nervous system and motor output facilitated by contractile muscle tissue. The fundamental morphological events underlying skeletal muscle development are strikingly similar between humans and model organisms such as the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Moreover, the functional conservation of proteins required for muscle development and maintenance across diverse species is well-established. As such, we seek to characterize molecules and signaling pathways in the Drosophila model that regulate: (1) the formation and stability of muscle-tendon interfaces; and (2) maintenance of mature, contractile myofibers. We feel that understanding the molecular events that contribute to the development and homeostasis of normal muscle tissue will allow us to ultimately determine how defects may lead to the onset and progression of human myopathies. Our laboratory uses a combination of genetic, biochemical, and imaging techniques to achieve our goals.
Selected Publications
Zhao Z, Lim HY, Cannone E, Marchetto G, Schiavone M, Vattemi G, et al. CryAB-driven amyloidogenesis in Drosophila muscle engages extracellular vesicle pathways for cellular release. iScience. 2026 Apr 17;29(4):115461. doi:10.1016/j.isci.2026.115461 PubMed PMID: 42006321; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC13089057.
Feist D, Zhao Z, Brooks D, Ridder J, Peters E, Green N, et al. Drosophila Transglutaminase preserves the integrity of muscle attachments with and without mechanical strain. J Cell Sci. 2026 Mar 1;139(5):jcs264299. doi:10.1242/jcs.264299 PubMed PMID: 41664607; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC13006523.
Tiwari P, Brooks D, Geisbrecht ER. Overexpression of Drosophila NUAK or Constitutively-Active Formin-Like Promotes the Formation of Aberrant Myofibrils. Cytoskeleton. 2025 Oct;82(10):643–52. doi:10.1002/cm.21999 PubMed PMID: 39876757; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC12304244.
Guo Y, Hartson SD, Rogers J, Brooks-Kanost L, Brooks D, Geisbrecht ER. Protocol for affinity purification-mass spectrometry interactome profiling in larvae of Drosophila melanogaster. STAR Protoc. 2024 Jun 21;5(2):103064. doi:10.1016/j.xpro.2024.103064 PubMed PMID: 38743568; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11108999.
Zhao Z, Brooks D, Guo Y, Geisbrecht ER. Identification of CryAB as a target of NUAK kinase activity in Drosophila muscle tissue. Genetics. 2023 Nov 1;225(3):iyad167. doi:10.1093/genetics/iyad167 PubMed PMID: 37713608; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10627272.
Guo Y, Zeng Q, Brooks D, Geisbrecht ER. A conserved STRIPAK complex is required for autophagy in muscle tissue. Mol Biol Cell. 2023 Aug 1;34(9):ar91. doi:10.1091/mbc.E23-01-0006 PubMed PMID: 37379167; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10398890.
Brooks D, Bawa S, Bontrager A, Stetsiv M, Guo Y, Geisbrecht ER. Independent pathways control muscle tissue size and sarcomere remodeling. Dev Biol. 2022 Oct;490:1–12. doi:10.1016/j.ydbio.2022.06.014 PubMed PMID: 35760368; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9648737.
Bawa S, Gameros S, Baumann K, Brooks DS, Kollhoff JA, Zolkiewski M, et al. Costameric integrin and sarcoglycan protein levels are altered in a Drosophila model for Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2H. Mol Biol Cell. 2021 Feb 1;32(3):260–73. doi:10.1091/mbc.E20-07-0453 PubMed PMID: 33296226; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8098830.
Brooks D, Naeem F, Stetsiv M, Goetting SC, Bawa S, Green N, Clark C, Bashirullah A, Geisbrecht ER. Drosophila NUAK functions with Starvin/BAG3 in autophagic protein turnover. PLoS Genet. 2020 Apr 22;16(4):e1008700. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1008700. PMID: 32320396.
Bawa S, Brooks DS, Neville KE, Tipping M, Sagar MA, Kollhoff JA, Chawla G, Geisbrecht BV, Tennessen JM, Eliceiri KW, Geisbrecht ER. Drosophila TRIM32 cooperates with glycolytic enzymes to promote cell growth. Elife. 2020 Mar 30;9. pii: e52358. doi: 10.7554/eLife.52358.PMID:32223900.