Unequal Cleavage and D Quadrant Specification in the Leech Helobdella

该奖项由2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》(公法111-5)资助。胚胎发育需要精心安排的细胞分裂和其他过程，从单个细胞-受精卵-到成体。在发育的每个阶段出现的细胞注定要通过内在因素(继承自其祖先)和外在信号(如相邻细胞产生的信号分子)相互作用，为下一阶段做出特殊贡献。我们知道，影响这些“命运决定”的细胞和分子机制的基本“工具包”在不同物种之间是高度保守的。因此，了解该工具包是如何在不同物种中部署的，包括相对简单、更容易研究的物种，包括相对简单、更容易研究的物种，有助于了解不同种类的动物如何进化其独特的成年身体计划，细胞命运过程如何在人类发育中发挥作用，以及功能障碍如何导致癌症和出生缺陷等疾病。这项建议是为了研究发生在2-细胞水蚤胚胎中的特定细胞分裂，检验内在因素(局部升高的钙离子浓度)和外部信号(从相邻细胞分泌的一种高度保守的蛋白质，称为WNT)之间的相互作用导致受体细胞不平等地分裂，产生注定要贡献肌肉的一个子细胞，神经和皮肤对发育中的胚胎有贡献，另一种注定主要对肠道有贡献。魏斯布拉特博士的研究还为博士后研究人员、本科生和研究生提供了严格且具有成本效益的细胞和发育生物学技术以及分析思维和写作关键技能方面的培训，他们中的许多人已经进入医学、生物技术、科学政策、教学和研究领域。除了招募和指导一个多元化的研究小组，魏斯布拉特博士还是NSF REU网站项目的负责人，该项目旨在改善生物科学专业学生从代表性不足的少数族裔招收到博士学位学习的情况。他还致力于通过在巴西、爱沙尼亚、印度、墨西哥和尼日利亚等发展中国家任教来促进科学善意。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Embryonic development entails exquisitely orchestrated cell divisions and other processes leading from a single cell, the fertilized egg, to the adult form. Cells arising at each stage of development become fated to make a particular contribution to the next stage via interacting intrinsic factors (inherited from their progenitors) and extrinsic cues (such as signaling molecules produced by neighboring cells). We know that a basic "toolkit" of cellular and molecular mechanisms influencing these "fate decisions" is highly conserved from species to species. Thus, understanding how the toolkit is deployed in various species, including comparatively simple, more easily studied ones such as the leech, can contribute to understanding how diverse kinds of animals evolved their distinct adult body plans, how cell fating processes function in human development and how malfunctions can result in disorders such as cancer and birth defects.This proposal is to study a particular cell division occurring in the 2-cell leech embryo, testing the hypothesis that interactions between intrinsic factors (locally elevated calcium ion concentrations) and extrinsic signals (a highly conserved protein called WNT secreted from the adjacent cell) cause the recipient cell to divide unequally, yielding one daughter cell fated to contribute muscle, nerves and skin to the developing embryo, and another fated to contribute mainly to the gut. Dr. Weisblat's research also provides rigorous and cost-effective training in cell and developmental biology techniques and in the critical skills of analytical thinking and writing for postdoctoral researchers, undergraduate and graduate students, many of whom have gone on to studies in medicine, biotechnology, science policy, teaching and research. In addition to recruiting and mentoring a diverse research group, Dr. Weisblat is director for an NSF REU Site program aimed at improving the recruitment of bioscience students from underrepresented minorities to Ph.D. studies. He has also worked to promote scientific goodwill by teaching in developing nations such as Brazil, Estonia, India, Mexico and Nigeria.