• Pituitary hormone gene expression and regulation, specifically of the alpha-subunit of TSH.
• Thyroid hormone action, particularly as it relates to TSH inhibition and thyrotrope tumor growth suppression.
• Free glycoprotein hormone alpha-subunit expression and action, particularly in ectopic sites.

• Thyrotropic tumor cell dispersion and primary culture
• Transient DNA transfection and assays of luciferase and beta-galactosidase reporter gene expression
• DNA cloning, amplification and sequencing
• RNA isolation and mRNA purification, and detection by Northern blot analysis and RT-PCR
• Thyroid hormone receptor ligand binding assays
• Nuclear protein production, production of recombinant proteins, and detection of proteins by Western blot analysis
• Evaluation of protein-DNA interactions by DNase I footprinting analysis, gel mobility shift assays and Southwestern blot analysis
• DNA mutagenesis
• Measurement of cell growth parameters by PCNA and flow cytometry

• Sarapura VD, Wood WM, Bright TM, Ocran KW, Gordon DF and Ridgway EC. Reconstitution of T3 inhibition in non-T3 responsive thyrotropic tumor cells using transfected TR isoforms. Thyroid, 7:453-461, 1997.

• Sarapura VD, Gordon DF, Strouth HL, Wood WM and Ridgway EC. Msx1 is present in thyrotropic cells and binds to a consensus site on the glycoprotein hormone alpha-subunit promoter. Mol. Endocrinol., 11:1782-1794, 1997.

• Brinkmeier ML, Gordon DF, Dowding JM, Saunders TL, Kendall SK, Sarapura VD, Wood WM, Ridgway EC and Camper SA. Cell specific expression of the mouse glycoprotein hormone alpha-subunit gene requires multiple interacting DNA elements in transgenic mice and cultured cells. Mol. Endocrinol., 12:622-633, 1998.
• Wood WM, Dowding JM, Sarapura VD, McDermott MT, Gordon DF and Ridgway EC. Functional interactions of an upstream enhancer of the mouse glycoprotein hormone alpha-subunit gene with proximal promoter sequences in thyrotropes and gonadotropes. Mol. Cell. Endocrinol., 142:141-152, 1998.
• Sarapura VD, Strouth HL, Wood WM, Gordon DF and Ridgway EC. Activation of the glycoprotein hormone alpha-subunit gene promoter in thyrotropes. Mol. Cell. Endocrinol., 146:77-86, 1998.

• Sarapura VD, Wood WM and Ridgway EC. Inhibition of alpha-subunit expression in somatomammotropic pituitary cells. 81^st Annual Meeting of The Endocrine Society, San Diego, CA, Abstract #P2-321, p.348, June 1999.

• Sarapura VD, Wood WM, Dowding JM, Gordon DF and Ridgway EC. A distal regulatory area of the glycoprotein alpha-subunit promoter responsible for dual activation and repression. 6^th International Pituitary Congress, Long Beach, CA, June 1999.

• Sarapura V and Lewis S. The presence of TTF-2 in thyrotropic cells. 72^nd Annual Meeting of The American Thyroid Association, West Palm Beach, FL, Abstract # 249, Proceedings of the 72^nd Annual Meeting of The American Thyroid Association: p. 124, September 1999.

• Sarapura VD, Gordon DF, Wood WM, Woodmansee WW, Dowding JM, Camper SA and Ridgway EC. An alpha-subunit deficient thyrotropic tumor: comparison with a classical thyrotropic tumor. Accepted for presentation at the 82^nd Annual Meeting of the Endocrine Society, Denver, CO.

• Haakinson DJ, Lewis SR and Sarapura VD. Ectopic expression of the glycoprotein hormone alpha-subunit in a lung cancer cell line. Accepted for presentation at the 82^nd Annual Meeting of the Endocrine Society, Denver, CO.

• Member, The Endocrine Society, The American Thyroid Association, The Pituitary Society, Latin American Thyroid Society.
• Fellow, The American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine.
• Council Director, The American Thyroid Association.
• Editorial Board of the Journal Thyroid.
• Reviewer for:

Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism

Endocrinology

To determine the mechanism of activation of the glycoprotein hormone alpha-subunit promoter in thyrotrope (TSH-producing) and gonadotrope (LH- and FSH- producing) pituitary cells, as well as the mechanism by which this promoter is repressed in somatotrope cells. 2) To define the mechanism of thyroid hormone inhibition of thyrotrope cell growth, as well as the derangement of this mechanism in a thyrotrope cell line that is not inhibited by thyroid hormone. 3) To characterize a thyrotrope tumor arising in a glycoprotein hormone alpha-subunit deficient transgenic knock-out mouse. 4) To elucidate the mechanism of ectopic activation of the glycoprotein hormone alpha-subunit in malignant tumors (such as lung and cervical cancer), as well as the potential role of this protein as a growth stimulator, and 5) To investigate the function of TTF-2, a thyroid gland transcription factor, in the pituitary.

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