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William M. Wood, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Medicine

Dr. Wood received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Glasgow in Scotland. Following post-doctoral studies at the Universities of Illinois and Pittsburgh, he joined the faculty of the University of Colorado School of Medicine in 1985. He is now an Associate Professor and, in 1996, received the Ph.D. Research and Teaching Award from the Department of Medicine. Dr. Wood's research interests lie in the area of pituitary gene expression and regulation. He has continued to work on elucidating the molecular determinants governing thyrotrope expression and thyroid hormone (TH) regulation of the thyrotropin subunit genes. He has recently been elucidating the role of an upstream regulatory region in the pituitary cell type dependent activation and repression of the alpha subunit gene. In related studies he has been investigating the regulation of pituitary cell growth by TH. These studies have led to the cloning and characterization of the promoter region of the pituitary-specific beta-2 isoform of the TH receptors (TRs). Recent research endeavors involve the role of somatostatin receptor (sst) subtypes, specifically sst 5 and 1, in thyrotrope growth arrest by TH and the interface of TRs via sst5 with the cell cycle apparatus. This includes quantitation of the levels of the various cell cycle components (the various cyclins, the cyclin-dependent kinases (cdks) and the cdk inhibitors) in both growing and TH inhibited thyrotropic tumors.

Selected Publications

  • Woodmansee, W.W., Kerr, J.M., Tucker, E.A., Mitchell, J.R., Haakinson, D.J., Gordon, D.F., Ridgway, E.C., and Wood, W.M. (2006) The proliferative status of thyrotropes is dependent on modulation of specific cell cycle regulators by thyroid hormone.  Endocrinology, 147:272-282 PUBMED

  • Chadli, A., Graham,  J. D., Abel, M.G., Jackson, T.A., Gordon, D.F., Wood, W.M., Felts, S.J., Horwitz, K.B., and Toft, D. (2006) GCUNC-45 is a novel regulator for the progesterone receptor/HSP90 chaperoning pathway.  Mol. Cell. Biol., 26:1722-1730. PUBMED

  • Charles, M.A., Saunders, T.L., Wood, W.M., Owens, K., Camper, S.A., Ridgway, E.C., and Gordon, D.F. (2006) Pituitary specific GATA2 knockout: Effects on gonadotrope and thyrotrope function. Mol. Endocrinol., 20:1366-1377. PUBMED

  • Kerr, J.M., Gordon, D.F., Woodmansee, W.W., Sarapura, V.D., Ridgway, E.C. and Wood, W.M. (2005) Growth arrest of thyrotropic tumors by thyroid hormone is correlated with novel changes in Wnt 10a., Mol Cell Endocrinol, 238:57-67. PUBMED

  • Wood, W.M., Sarapura, V.D., Dowding, J.M., Woodmansee, W.W., Haakinson, D.J., Gordon, D.F. and Ridgway, E.C. (2002) Early gene expression changes preceding thyroid hormone induced involution of a thyrotrope tumor. Endocrinology, 143:347-359. PUBMED

  • Wood, W.M., Dowding, J.M., Gordon, D.F. and Ridgway, E.C. (1999)  An upstream regulator of the glycoprotein hormone alpha-subunit gene mediates pituitary cell type activation and repression by different mechanisms. J. Biol. Chem. 274:15526-15532. PUBMED

  • Wood, W.M., Dowding, J.M., Bright, T.M., McDermott, M.T., Haugen, B.R., Gordon, D.F. and Ridgway, E.C.  (1996)  Thyroid hormone receptor beta 2 promoter activity in pituitary cells is regulated by Pit-1. J. Biol. Chem., 271:24213-24220. PUBMED