|
Mary
C. Mullins
Associate Professor,
Dept of Cell & Dev Bio
Developmental
Biology Program
Address
1211 Biomedical Rsch Bldg (BRB) II/III
421 Curie Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6140
Office tel.: 215 898-2644
Lab tel.: 215 898-9795
Fax: 215 898-9871
E-mail: mullins@mail.med.upenn.edu
Link(s)
Mary Mullins
at the Cell and Dev Bio Dept
Education
University of Wisconsin, Madison
,BS (Biochemistry), 1984
University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D. (Biochemistry), 1989
|
Research Interests
- BMP signal transduction; molecular mechanisms of
cell specification and maternal control in vertebrates.
Key words:
maternal-effect, midblastula transition, Bone Morphogenetic Protein
(BMP), signal transduction, Smad5, molecular-genetics, genomics, zebrafish, development,
cell specification, embryonic axis
Search PubMed for articles
Description of Research
We are studying the molecular mechanisms by which a BMP (Bone Morphogenetic
Protein) signal transduction pathway establishes different aspects of the vertebrate
body plan. Various zebrafish mutants of BMP pathway components, as well as antisense
knockdown approaches are used to dissect the molecular mechanisms by which this
pathway establishes different cell types. We are studying the formation, function,
and temporal regulation of a BMP activity gradient, which is implicated in specification
of diverse cell types along the dorsal-ventral axis. We have shown that this gradient
is essential in neural crest specification and is linked to dorsal-ventral patterning
of neural tissue. Moreover, a subset of our defined components also function in
post-embryonic heart development. Misregulation of BMP signaling leads to a debilitating
disease in humans called FOP. We are currently trying to establish a model for
FOP in the zebrafish.
Elaboration of the vertebrate body plan relies not only on zygotic processes,
but also on maternally-controlled processes. That is, processes that depend on
products derived from the mother that are deposited into the oocyte and are critical
for proper development of the embryo. To this end we performed a large-scale maternal-effect
mutant screen, not previously performed in a vertebrate, to identify mutants of
key genes specifically required in the mother for oocyte development, egg activation,
fertilization, the midblastula transition, and establishment of the axes of the
vertebrate embryo. We identified numerous mutants in these processes and are studying
the molecular and cellular basis for the defects, including positional cloning
of the mutated genes.
Recent Publications
Schmid, B., Fürthauer, M., Connors, S.A., Trout, J., Thisse, C., Thisse,
B., and Mullins, M.C. 2000. Equivalent genetic roles for bmp7/snailhouse and bmp2b/swirl
in dorsoventral pattern formation, Development, 127:957-967.
Mintzer, K., Lee M., Runke, G., Trout, J., Whitman, M. and Mullins, M. C.,
2001. lost-a-fin encodes a type I BMP receptor, Alk8, acting maternally and zygotically
in dorsoventral pattern formation, Development, 128:859-869, (cover photo).
Mullins, M.C. 2002. Building-blocks of embryogenesis. Nature Genetics,
31:125-126.
Dosch, R., Wagner, D.S., Mintzer, K.A., Runke, G., Wiemelt, A.P., and Mullins,
M. C. 2004. Maternal Control of Vertebrate Development before the Midblastula
Transition: Mutants from the Zebrafish I, Dev. Cell, 6: 771-780, (cover
photo).
Wagner, D.S., Dosch, R., Mintzer, K.A., Wiemelt, A.P., and Mullins, M.C. 2004.
Maternal Control of Development at the Mid-Blastula Transition and Beyond: Mutants
from the Zebrafish II, Dev. Cell, 6: 781-790, (cover photo).
Lab
Rotation
Projects
- Studies of maternal regulation of embryonic development, including the midblastula
transition and animal-vegetal polarity.
- Positional cloning of maternal control genes in the zebrafish.
- Molecular activities of type I BMP receptors.
- Studies on the action of BMPs as heterodimers versus homodimers.
- The post-embryonic role of BMP signaling in heart development.
- Lab personnel:
- Beth Holloway, graduate student
Shawn Little, graduate student
Jennifer Schumacher, graduate student
Tripti Gupta, postdoctoral fellow
Wenyan Mei, postdoctoral fellow
Florence Marlow, postdoctoral fellow
Greg Runke, research specialist
Bill Vought, research technician
last updated 7/2004
|
