Research OverviewDevelopmental Biology The process by which a fertilized egg gives rise to a fully-formed multicellular individual is part of the broad field known as developmental biology. Development is concerned with the life history of cells in general----including the complex ways that genetic information is translated into organismal structure and function. This includes the molecular mechanisms by which cells specialize and become different from one another, and the ways that shape, form and pattern arise in each generation... Complete Information... | Research DescriptionResearch Area: Developmental biology
Research Specialties: Cellular and molecular mechanisms that control the differentiation of muscle cells during embryogenesis. Use of transgenic technology to study fish growth and development. Research Interests The fundamental question that drives my research is: " How a single cell, the fertilized egg, develops into an animal with thousands of distinct type of cells - muscle cells, neurons, epidermal cells, blood cells, and so on?" We are particularly interested in the cellular and molecular mechanisms that control the differentiation of muscle and skeletal cells during embryogenesis. Specifically, we use zebrafish as a model system to investigate the role of growth factors and their downstream transcriptional factors in the formation and differentiation of vertebrate skeletal and ... Complete Information... |
Representative PublicationsDu, S. J. (2006). Skeletogenesis in Zebrafish Embryos (Danio rerio). In "Handbook of Biomineralization: Vol.1: The Biology of Biominerals Structure Formation. Edmund Baeuerlein (Editor), Willey-VCH, Weinheim. (In Press). Du, S. J., Rotllant, J., and Tan, X. G. (2006). The zebrafish bop promoter directs muscle-specific GFP expression in transgenic zebrafish embryos. Developmental Dynamic (in press). Tan, X. G., Rotllant, J., Li, H., DeDeyne, P. and Du, S. J. (2006). SmyD1, a histone methyltransferase, is required for myofibril organization and muscle contraction in zebrafish embryos. Proc. Natl. Acad.. Sci. USA . 103, 2713-2718. Complete Listing... |
