Kimelman, David

The laboratory works on the early development of the zebrafish embryo. We work to understand how intercellular signals (particularly Wnts, Fgfs and Bmps) regulate the activation of downstream target genes in order to convert progenitors (stem-like cells) into differentiated cells during embryogenesis. We use transgenic zebrafish expressing heat-shock inducible activators and inhibitors of these pathways in order to examine how this process works in a living embryo. A second part of our work examines the morphogenetic changes (cell movements) that occur in zebrafish embryos, and the proteins regulating the morphogenesis, particularly a large scaffolding protein called Gravin that brings together downstream regulators. For more on both topics, please see the lab web page.