Ertugrul Ozbudak (Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center): Reengineering somite segmentation without the vertebrate segmentation clock

Speaker: Ertugrul Ozbudak, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

Host: Arpita Upadhyaya

Abstract:  Somitogenesis establishes the segmental pattern of the vertebral column. A molecular segmentation clock sets the pace of somite formation. However, how cells are primed to form a segment boundary at a specific location remains unclear. Here we developed precise reporters for the clock and double phosphorylated ERK (ppERK) gradient in zebrafish. We show that the Her1–Her7 oscillator drives segmental commitment by periodically lowering ppERK, therefore projecting its oscillation onto the ppERK gradient. Pulsatile inhibition of the ppERK gradient can fully substitute for the role of the clock and reengineer segmentation in the absence of a molecular clock. The clock functions upstream of ppERK, which in turn enables neighboring cells to discretely establish somite boundaries.

This seminar will begin at 10:00 am, and refreshments will be served at 9:45 am. This seminar will be held in room 1136 of the Physical Sciences Complex (PSC).