As an undergraduate student at Cornell University and as a graduate student at the University of Illinois, Dr. Kraus was trained as a reproductive biologist, focusing on various aspects of steroid hormone signaling in the female reproductive tract. His work as a graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Benita Katzenellenbogen helped to define the molecular mechanisms by which estrogen signaling regulates the expression of the progestin receptor in the uterus. Now, during his time as director of the Green Center for Reproductive Biology Sciences at UT Southwestern, the Kraus Lab has expanded these studies into other reproductive organs, including the cervix, ovary, and placenta. We have brought our interests in the molecular mechanisms of gene regulation by steroid hormone receptors to bear on fundamental questions in these tissues.
Selected Publications
- Tripathy S, Nagari A, Chiu SP, Nandu T, Camacho CV, Mahendroo M, Kraus WL. Relaxin Modulates the Genomic Actions and Biological Effects of Estrogen in the Myometrium. Endocrinology. 2024 Sep 26;165(11):bqae123. doi: 10.1210/endocr/bqae123. PMID: 39283953.
- Kwak YT, Montalbano AP, Kelleher AM, Colon-Caraballo M, Kraus WL, Mahendroo M, Mendelson CR. Decline in corepressor CNOT1 in the pregnant myometrium near term impairs progesterone receptor function and increases contractile gene expression. J Biol Chem. 2024 Jul;300(7):107484. doi: 10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107484. Epub 2024 Jun 18. PMID: 38897566.
- Owen DM, Kwon M, Huang X, Nagari A, Nandu T, Kraus WL. Genome-wide identification of transcriptional enhancers during human placental development and association with function, differentiation, and disease. Biol Reprod. 2023 Dec 11;109(6):965-981. doi: 10.1093/biolre/ioad119. PMID: 37694817.
- Kelleher AM, Setlem R, Dantzer F, DeMayo FJ, Lydon JP, Kraus WL. Deficiency of PARP-1 and PARP-2 in the mouse uterus results in decidualization failure and pregnancy loss. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 Oct 5;118(40):e2109252118. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2109252118. PMID: 34580230.
- Vasquez YM, Nandu TS, Kelleher AM, Ramos EI, Gadad SS, Kraus WL. Genome-wide analysis and functional prediction of the estrogen-regulated transcriptional response in the mouse uterus. Biol Reprod. 2020 Feb 14;102(2):327-338. doi: 10.1093/biolre/ioz183. PMID: 31511857.
- Willcockson AR, Nandu T, Liu CL, Nallasamy S, Kraus WL, Mahendroo M. Transcriptome signature identifies distinct cervical pathways induced in lipopolysaccharide-mediated preterm birth. Biol Reprod. 2018 Mar 1;98(3):408-421. doi: 10.1093/biolre/iox180. PMID: 29281003.
- Fogarty EA, Matulis CK, Kraus WL. Activation of estrogen receptor α by raloxifene through an activating protein-1-dependent tethering mechanism in human cervical epithelial cancer cells: a role for c-Jun N-terminal kinase. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2012 Jan 2;348(1):331-8. doi: 10.1016/j.mce.2011.09.032. Epub 2011 Sep 22. PMID: 21964465.