Diane Slusarski

All animals originate from an egg. Upon fertilization, this single cell gives rise to the many cells which rearrange to form the adult tissues and organs. During vertebrate development, including zebrafish and humans, the many cells of the embryo need to communicate with each other to define the axes of the body (i.e. front/back, head/tail or left/right). We investigate the roles of signaling molecules in development and how they are used for cell communication to pattern the embryo and influence organ formation, such as the brain, heart and vascular systems.

The signaling molecules important for embryonic developmental processes are also important in the adult for cell growth, regulation and maintenance. Misregulation of signaling molecules has been associated with numerous human disorders and cancers. The talk will outline how the use of molecular-genetic tools to study embryogenesis has become a valuable resource for identifying and characterizing genes involved in human disease. We also will also discuss how the zebrafish can be used as a model for studying embryonic development and disease.