Member, American Society of Plant Physiologists
Member, Editorial Board, BioMed Central
Academic Affiliation
Associate Professor, School of Life Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Credentials
PhD, 1986, University of Arizona
Bio
Dr. Hugh Mason’s research involves genetic engineering of plants for recombinant protein production and improved quality traits, with a major focus on vaccines. Dr. Mason’s lab also works on the regulation of plant gene expression and multimeric protein assembly, with the aim of optimizing accumulation of foreign proteins in plants, and the testing of plant-derived vaccines by oral delivery in model test animals. The research comprises 3 main categories:
Plant-based vaccine production and testing. Dr. Mason’s lab uses plants (potato, tomato, tobacco, alfalfa, and corn) as hosts for stable transformation and expression of vaccine antigens in edible tissues. Expression of foreign genes in plants may present challenging problems including transcription and mRNA processing, translation, assembly, and subcellular targeting.
Novel plant gene expression systems. Dr. Mason’s lab is investigating the use of plant geminivirus elements to enhance the expression of foreign proteins in a tightly regulated manner. High expression of foreign proteins often causes toxic effects in plant cells and may interfere with plant growth and development. Thus regulated expression is necessary in order to obtain the most efficient protein production.
Multimeric protein assembly in plant cells. Using model vaccine antigens, Dr. Mason’s lab is investigating the synthesis, processing, and assembly of multimeric protein complexes in plants.