Our research focuses on understanding molecular mechanisms
regulating early stages of vertebrate development, primarily in the
chicken embryo. Research projects use a broad spectrum of experimental
approaches, from classical embryology to genomic analysis.
One research area is concerned with understanding the role of ephs
and ephrins during epithelial mesenchymal transformation (EMT). Ephs,
the largest known family of receptor tyrosine kinases, and their ligands
the ephrins, are membrane-bound proteins that mediate bidirectional
signals between adjacent cells. By modulating cytoskeleton dynamics
affecting cell motility and adhesion, Ephs and ephrins orchestrate
cell movements during many morphogenetic processes. Present studies
are investigating their roles in regulating EMT during gastrulation,
vasculogenesis, and islet formation in the pancreas, processes that
are related to transitions that occur in tumorogenesis and metastases.
We are also using genomics based approaches, including microarray
and cis element analyses, to develop a gene regulatory pathway model
of EMT. Additional research interests include cardiac and skeletal
muscle development, myofibril assembly, and the origin of endothelial
cells.
GEISHA (gallus est in situ hybridization analysis) is a large NIH funded resource project that uses
whole mount in situ hybridization analysis to map the expression of
all differentially expressed genes in the chicken embryo through day
4 of embryogenesis. Sequence information, images, and related data
are stored in a SQL database and displayed to the research community
through a freely accessible web interface (http://geisha.biosci.arizona.edu).
Information is linked to genomic information through the Ensembl,
NCBI, and UCSC genome browsers.
Any link on the below references will take you off
of the BMCB site and to an abstract of that particular paper.
Ono, Y., C. Schwach, P.B. Antin, and C.C. Gregorio. 2005. Disruption
in the tropomodulin1 (Tmod1) gene compromises cardiomyocyte development
in murine embryonic stem cells by arresting myofibril maturation. Developmental
Biology 282: 336-348.
Antin, P.B., and J.H. Konieczka. 2005. Genomic resources for chicken. Developmental Dynamics 232: 877-882.
Vokes, S.A., T.A. Yatskievych, R.L. Heimark, J. McMahon, A.P. McMahon,
P.B. Antin, and P.A. Krieg. 2004. Hedgehog signaling is essential
for endothelial tube formation during vasculogenesis. Development 131: 4371-4380.
Zhang, W., T.A. Yatskievych, R.B. Baker, and P.B. Antin. 2004. Regulation
of Hex gene expression and initial stages of avian hepatogenesis by
Bmp and Fgf signaling. Developmental
Biology 268: 312-326.
Bell, G.W., T.A. Yatskievych, and P.B. Antin. 2004. GEISHA, a whole-mount
in situ hybridization gene expression screen in chicken embryos. Developmental
Dynamics 229: 677-687.
Baker, R.K., and P.B. Antin. 2003. Ephs and ephrins during early
stages of chick embryogenesis. Developmental
Dynamics 228: 128-142.
Kazmierski, S.T., P.B. Antin, C.C. Witt, N. Huebner, A.S. McElhinny,
S. Labeit, and C.C. Gregorio. 2003. The complete mouse nebulin gene
sequence and the identification of cardiac nebulin. Journal
of Molecular Biology 328: 835-846.
Grill, M.G., M.S. Bales, A.N. Fought, K.C. Rosburg, S.J. Munger,
and P.B. Antin. 2003.Tetracycline-inducible system for regulation
of skeletal muscle-specific gene expression in transgenic mice. Transgenic
Research 12: 33-43.
Zhang, W., T.A. Yatskievych, C. Xu, and P.B. Antin. 2002. Regulation
of the homeobox gene Hex by a Smads-dependent signaling pathway. Journal
of Biological Chemistry 277: 45435-45441.
Antin, P.B., W. Zhang, M.A. Bales, R. Garriock, and T.A. Yatskievych.
2002. Precocious expression of cardiac troponin T during early avian
embryogenesis. Developmental
Dynamics 225: 135-141.
