Regulation of transcriptional responses to intercellular signaling during development

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The broad goal of my research program is to understand how cells become specialized as an animal develops. This specialization process involves mechanisms that turn some genes on turn others off, and ultimately this profile of gene activity leads each cell to adopt the shape, function, and/or behaviour that allows it to fulfill its function within the tissue. Most tissues are made up of a number of different types of cells, and these multiple cell types are often organized into very specific spatial patterns. Such a pattern reflects the ability of each individual cell to detect where it lies within the tissue and regulate its genes appropriately. The work in my lab is focused on understanding how each cell in the developing tissue senses its position, receives biochemical instructions to guide its specialization, and turns on and off the correct set of genes for its position and future function. By studying the developing fruit fly ovary as a model tissue, we recently discovered that complex and specific patterns of gene activity can be generated by biochemical signals that are present in different regions of the tissue. Where they overlap, they work together to turn genes on and off. We now propose to further study how these signals collaborate, as well as the details of how they choose which genes to activate and which to inhibit. The genes of the fruit fly are actually very similar to those of humans, and over 75% of fruit fly genes have a recognizable human equivalent. This similarity suggests that the genetic lessons that we learn by studying the fruit fly will tell us a lot about how genes are regulated in humans and other animals.