Developmental Biology
-Spring, 2012
13:30-15:20, every Wednesday
Rm. N401, IMB
Organizer: Cheng-Ting Chien,
E-mail: ctchien@gate.sinica.edu.tw ;
TEL: 2789-9970
Textbooks:
1. Developmental Biology (8th ed.)
by Scott F. Gilbert
2. Principles of Development (3rd ed.)
by Lewis Wolpert
Grading:
1. homework, or
2. mid-term and final exams
in open-book style.
Cell Proliferation and death
Lecturer: Dr. Guang-Chao Chen
•Regulation of cell cycle
•Cell signaling networks that control cell proliferation
•Cell death in development
•Regulation of cell death
•Caspases and apoptosis
•Bcl2 family members and the mitochondria in apoptosis
•Autophagy and cell death
Logic of regulatory circuits
Lecturer: Dr. Y. Henry Sun
Formation of organs
• Cells
• Tissues
• Organs
• Systems
• Organisms
• Society
Questions
• •Fate specification
• •Cell differentiation
• •Spatial and temporal coordination
• •Growth control
• •Coordination with other parts of body
Cell fate specification
Lecturer: Dr. Cheng-Ting Chien
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Gene expression and Development
Progressive cell fate determination
Neurogenin and NeuroD in vertebrate neural development
Combinations of transcription factors determine different cell fates
Requirement of MRFs at different stages
Effect of knockout of myogenic genes in mice
MRFs (muscle regulatory factor) and MEF (muscle enhancerbinding factor)
Sites of E-box and MEF-box on muscle differentiation-specific genes
Combinatorial codes to specify distinct cell fates along D/V axis
Lhx3, an effector gene for V2 differentiation is not repressed in the
p2 domain
Common signaling pathways in development
Three habits to signal effectively and specifically
Embryonic development I
Lecturer: Dr. Der-Hwa Huang
1. Brief introduction of fly life and key events in early embryo
2. Zygotic genes that affect segmentation and segmental identity
3. Events that depend on maternal products
4. Things begin during Oocyte formation— A/P polarity during oocyte
formation.
5. Pre-patterning of A/P and D/V axis in oocyte.
Embryonic development II
Lecturer: Dr. Yu-Ting Yan
• The EGF-CFC gene family
• Cripto is required for A-P axis positioning
• Conserved elements of the L-R pathway
• The Nodal signaling pathway
• Gene expression and targeted disruption of Cryptic
• Randomized abdominal situs in Cryptic–/– mice
• Cardiac defects in Cryptic–/– mice
Vascular heterotaxia in Cryptic–/– mice
Randomized embryo turning and cardiac looping
Absence of L-R asymmetric gene expression in the lateral plate
mesoderm
Absence of Nodal expression in the lateral plate, but not round the node
Schematic model for EGF-CFC function in left-right axis formation
An assay for EGF-CFC and Nodal activities
Direct and indirect mechanisms for L-R defects
Pathway for L-R axis specification
Cell polarity and migration
Lecturer: Dr. Ruey-Hwa Chen
• Basic principle to generate polarity
• Asymmetric distribution of PAR complex and other polarity
complexes
• From polarity signal to polarity establishment
• Cell polarization in development
• Asymmetric cell division controls fly neurogenesis
• PAR and Scrib complexes facilitate the partition of apical and basal
membrane
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A-P axis specification in C. elegans
Setting up polarity by PAR proteins
Cell migration- basic mechanism
Acitn nucleation & branch formation
Adhesion formation
Cell migration in Dictyostelium development
Chemotaxis
Polarized distribution of signaling proteins
Chemotactic signaling at front & back
Drosophila Border cell migration
Three pathways control border cell migration
Distal tip cell migration in C. elegans
Genes involved in DTC migration
Neuronal development
Lecturer: Dr. Yi-Ping Hsueh
1. Cell proliferation
2. Cell migration
3. Axon guidance and outgrowth
a. Netrin/DCC
b. Eph/ephrin
4. Dendrite outgrowth and field size.
5. Synaptic formation
6. Elimination of cells and synapses
7. Activity-dependent synaptic rearrangement
Organogenesis on vertebrate systems
Lecturer: Dr. Yun-Jin Jiang (NHRI)
1. Comparison of model organisms
2. Introduction to zebrafish development
3. Zebrafish kidney (pronephros) as an example
4. General introduction of pronephros function and development
5. Four major stage of pronephros development
6. Genes and signaling pathways involved in pronephros development
7. Role of Notch signaling in cell specification between multiciliated
cells and principal (transporting epithelial) cells
8. Somite segmentaion as another example: temporal gene regulation
leading to spatial boundary formation
9. Discovery of the segmentation clock
10. Somite mutant studies
11. Genes and pathways involved in somite formation
12. Their regulation and model
Control and regulation of stem cells
Lecturer: Dr. Hwei-Jan Hsu (ICOB)
• Embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells and cancer stem cells
• Hematopoietic stem cells
• Neural stem cells
• Germline stem cells
• Stem cell niches
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Niche signals, systemic signals and environmental factors that
regulate stem cell function.
Sex determination & differentiation
Lecturer: Dr. Bon-chu Chung(IMB)
• Sex determination by X chromosome numbers
• Antagonism between Male and Female pathways
• SRY determines testis formation
• Sex in C. elegans and flies
• Germ cell/somatic cell interaction
• Steps in gonad differentiation
Development of the immune system
Lecturer: Dr. Kuo-I Lin (GRC)
• All the cellular components of the immune systemderive from a
pluripotent
• hematopoietic stem cell
• Lymphocyte development
• B cell development
• The development of T cells
• DC development
• Myeloid development
Senescence and ageing
Lecturer: Dr. Ting-Fen Tsai(YMU)
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Aging
Longevity
Cellular senescence
Age dependency
Lifespan
Healthspan
Health
Plant Development
Lecturer: Dr. Shu-Hsing Wu(IPMB)
Why plants?
What are the current status of developmental biology in plants?
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Embryogenesis
Vegetable growth: meristems and leaf development
Flowering time control
Reproductive growth: flower development
Evo-Devo
Lecturer: Dr. Jr-Kai Yu (ICOB)
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1. A brief history of animals and evolutionary biology
2. Animal phylogeny
3. The genetic toolkit for development
4. Mechanisms of evolutionary change
Development and Diseases
Lecturer: Dr. June-Tai Wu(NTU)
The lecture will mainly cover three topics:
1) diseases related to anatomical defects introducing birth defects that
reflect abnormalities in patterning during intrauterine development
2) diseases related to functional defects introducing genetic diseases
resulted from defects in terminal differentiation of a tissue
3) psychiatric
disease related to development introducing
the
developmental basis of psychiatric diseases, such as autism and
schizophrenia.