Early cell fate specification in the mud snail Ilyanassa.

Lisa M.Nagy，(IOS-0820564)泥螺Ilyanassa早期细胞命运规范。所有多细胞生物体的发育依赖于在最早的分裂周期中发生的图案分子的不对称分布。作为早期不对称性建立的结果，细胞走上不同的途径，最终成为成人可识别的器官。本研究着重于两条信号通路在泥螺Ilyanassa中不对称性和细胞命运的建立中的作用--通过NMDA受体的信号和通过Noch通路的信号。初步研究结果表明，阻断这两条通路中的任何一条都会扰乱决定特定细胞命运的重要事件，并导致无法在胚胎中建立两侧对称。Nagy实验室使用Ilyanassa作为他们的模型系统，因为他们的胚胎经历了一系列明显的不对称细胞分裂，并具有独特的细胞命运模式，这些特征使它们非常适合拟议的研究。值得注意的是，NMDA受体最为人所知的是它在突触传递、记忆和学习中的作用，以前还没有在任何动物物种的早期细胞分裂中涉及到。预期的结果将广泛影响科学界，因为不对称细胞分裂是干细胞的基本属性，增加我们对干细胞行为的理解会影响科学界通过利用干细胞进行治疗来改善医疗保健的能力。拟议的工作构成了研究生和本科生培训的基础，并延伸到当地的小学和高中。由于这些实验在方法上直截了当，它们提供了一个极好的机会，向学生和教师介绍无脊椎动物胚胎的美丽，以及细胞和分子生物学、成像以及科学实验的设计和解释方面的现代方法。该实验室积极参与旨在从当地高中和社区大学招募代表不足的少数族裔以获得研究经验的计划。

Lisa M. Nagy, (IOS-0820564) Early cell fate specification in the mud snail Ilyanassa. Development in all multi-cellular organisms depends on an asymmetric distribution of patterning molecules that occurs during the earliest cleavage cycles. As a consequence of the early establishment of asymmetry, cells embark on different pathways to ultimately become the recognizable organs of the adult. This proposal focuses on the role of two signaling pathways - signaling through the NMDA receptor and signaling through the NOTCH pathway - in the establishment of asymmetry and cell fate in the mud snail Ilyanassa. Preliminary findings suggest that blocking either of these pathways disrupts important events in determining the fate of particular cells and results in a failure to establish bilateral symmetry in the embryo. The Nagy lab uses Ilyanassa as their model system as their embryos undergo a series of pronounced asymmetric cell divisions and have a distinctive pattern of cell fates, characteristics that make them ideally suited for the proposed research. Significantly, the NMDA receptor is best known for its role in synaptic transmission and memory and learning and has not previously been implicated in early cell division in any animal species. The expected results will broadly impact the scientific community because asymmetric cell cleavage is a fundamental property of stem cells and increasing our understanding of stem cell behavior effects the ability of the scientific community to improve health care through treatments utilizing stem cells. The proposed work forms the basis of graduate and undergraduate training and outreach to local elementary and high schools. As these experiments are straightforward methodologically, they provide an excellent opportunity to introduce student and teachers-in training to the beauty of the invertebrate embryo and to modern methods in cell and molecular biology, imaging, and design and interpretation of scientific experiments. The lab actively participates in programs designed to recruit under-represented minorities from the local high schools and community college for research experiences.