Analysis of a Gene Regulatory Network in Early Animal Development

Charles Alan EttensohnProposal IOS-0745875动物早期发育中基因调控网络的分析这项研究项目解决了控制动物胚胎发育的基本机制。生物学家已经证明，发育程序编码在基因组的DNA中。尽管动物基因组包含数千个基因，但这些基因中只有一部分被用来构建胚胎。早期发育的一个特点是不同的基因在不同的胚胎细胞中活跃(表达)。这是通过在早期胚胎的不同区域部署基因调控网络(GRN)来实现的。GRN可以被认为是由相互作用的基因组成的复杂网络，这些基因相互影响着彼此的表达。本项目以海胆胚胎为实验模型，分析GRN在发育过程中的变化。海胆与包括人类在内的脊椎动物关系密切，但具有许多特征，使生物学家能够相对容易地研究它们的胚胎发育。最近，海胆的基因组被测序，并确定了完整的基因集。该项目的重点是部署在构成骨架的细胞中的特定GRN。分子生物学和胚胎学方法将被用来解决以下问题：为什么这种GRN只在早期胚胎的某些细胞中激活？网络中的各种基因是什么，它们是如何相互作用的？小区之间的信号如何影响网络？这种GRN最终是如何激活指导细胞最终生理功能的基因的？该项目的更广泛影响是a)提供关于发育的基因组控制的基本见解，以及2)进一步培训发育生物学和基因组学领域的本科生和研究生。

Charles Alan EttensohnProposal IOS-0745875Analysis of a Gene Regulatory Network in Early Animal DevelopmentThis research project addresses fundamental mechanisms that control the development of animal embryos. Biologists have shown that the program of development is encoded in the DNA of the genome. Although animal genomes contain thousands of genes, only some of these genes are used to construct the embryo. A hallmark of early development is that distinct sets of genes are active (expressed) in different embryonic cells. This occurs through the deployment of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) in different regions of the early embryo. GRNs can be thought of as complex networks composed of interacting genes that influence each other's expression.This project uses the sea urchin embryo as an experimental model to analyze GRNs during development. Sea urchins are closely related to vertebrates, including humans, but have many characteristics that allow biologists to study their embryonic development with relative ease. Recently, the sea urchin genome was sequenced and the complete set of genes identified. The project focuses on a particular GRN deployed in cells that form the skeleton. Molecular biological and embryological approaches will be used to address the following questions: Why is this GRNs activated only in certain cells of the early embryo? What are the various genes in the network and how do they interact? How do signals between cells impinge on the network? How does this GRN eventually activate genes that direct the final physiological functions of the cells? The broader impacts of the project are to a) provide fundamental insights concerning the genomic control of development, and 2) further the training of undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of developmental biology and genomics.