Student news (InTouch Summer 2008)

2008 Zebrafish Development and Genetics Meeting

Several research center trainees presented posters at the 8th International Meeting on Zebrafish Development and Genetics held in Madison, Wisconsin June 25-29, 2008.

Troy Camarata, graduate student (Hans-Georg Simon, PhD, advisor, Developmental Biology Program): "Tbx5 nuclear/cytoplasmic regulation by Lmp4 is required for AV boundary formation."

Rodney Dale, PhD, postdoctoral fellow (Jacek Topczewski, PhD, advisor, Developmental Biology): "Characterization of zebrafish homologues of the small GTPase Rab8 subfamily."

Catherine Drerup, graduate student (Jill Morris, PhD, advisor, Human Molecular Genetics Program): "Disrupted-In-Schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) functions in zebrafish craniofacial development."

G. Parker Flowers, graduate student (Topczewski, advisor): "Characterization of notum homologues during zebrafish development."

Barbara Sisson, PhD, postdoctoral fellow (Topczewski, advisor): "Characterization of the gene expression of six frizzleds during craniofacial cartilage morphogenesis."

Tyler Schwend, graduate student (Sara Ahlgren, PhD, advisor, Developmental Biology): "Pharyngeal arch development in chameleon/disp1 zebrafish; evidence for an ongoing role for Shh-signaling."

Kate Meyer, graduate student in the Morris lab, is first author on an in-press paper in Gene Expression Patterns, entitled "Immunohistochemical analysis of Disc1 expression in the developing and adult hippocampus." Disrupted-In-Schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) is a highly promising candidate gene whose disruption confers an increased risk for schizophrenia. Mutations in DISC1 have been associated with abnormal activation of the hippocampus, a brain area in which abnormalities in volume and function are consistently reported in schizophrenics.

The group performed a detailed analysis of the Disc1 expression pattern in the mouse hippocampus throughout development. Their results are the first report of a detailed immunohistochemical analysis of the ontogeny of Disc1 expression within the hippocampus and will make a significant contribution to scientists’ understanding of its role in this important brain area.

by Suzan Hammond

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