Department of Cell Biology (Skirball)

Skirball Institute Program of Developmental Genetics

Our research interest is the development of vertebrates, focusing on the mechanisms that underlie gastrulation, left-right axis formation and neural development. We use zebrafish as a model system, since genetic and embryological approaches can be combined to study complex developmental processes.


One major focus in the lab is the study of gastrulation. This process transforms a layer of cells into an embryo with three germ layers - ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. Our studies have revealed that the interplay of extracellular factors of the Nodal, EGF-CFC and Lefty families controls gastrulation in vertebrates. We have found that the Nodal signal Squint functions as a morphogen i.e. it acts over several cell diameters and specifies cell fates in a concentration-dependent manner. In contrast, Lefty proteins act as long-range inhibitors of Nodal signaling. We now determine how these signals function at the molecular level, move through the embryo and induce the directed migration of cells during gastrulation.

A second interest in the lab includes the development of left-right asymmetry. Vertebrates appear bilaterally symmetric but a left-right axis is revealed by the asymmetry of organs such as heart, liver or forebrain parapineal. We have found that the Nodal signaling pathway is required for left-right axis formation in zebrafish and human. To isolate novel genes involved in left-right development, we are currently analyzing and cloning genes affected in left-right mutants.


We have recently initiated a research program whose long-range goal is to learn more about the development of neural circuits and simple behaviors. As a model system, we study the formation of the trigeminal ganglion and its perception of touch and pain (nociception). The trigeminal ganglion consists of less that 30 neurons that project to different regions of the head and are the first born neurons in the zebrafish embryo. This simplicity promises the analysis of neuronal specification, circuit formation and behavioral responses at the single cell level.

Heads of wild type (wt) and one-eyed pinhead (oep) mutant zebrafish embryos at 30 hr after fertilization. Arrows point to normal (wt) and cyclopic eye (oep).

Research Interests

Vertebrate development and behavior

Research Keywords

development, signaling, vertebrate, zebrafish