The molecular and developmental basis for the majority of birth defects is unknown. Tissues and organs form during mammalian embryonic development through the integration of numerous signaling and transcriptional pathways. Our major goal is to define pathways controlling organogenesis to understand normal development, the molecular basis for congenital defects, and potential mechanisms for organ regeneration and repair. Using the mouse as a model system, current work in the lab is focused primarily on pathways controlling cardiovascular and craniofacial development. The long term scientific goal of these studies is to define the how tissues and cells are integrated during organogenesis and how cells receive and interpret positional information. We are using a combination of conditional gene knockouts, transgenic reporter assays, and biochemical, computational and genomic approaches to understand organogenesis, with a particular focus on transcriptional control. The ultimate goal of these studies is to development diagnostic and therapeutic interventions for birth defects of the heart and other organ systems. |
De Val S, Black BL. 2009. Transcriptional control of endothelial cell development. Developmental Cell 16: 180-195. (Review)
De Val S, Chi NC, Meadows SM, Minovitsky S, Anderson JP, Harris, IS, Ehlers ML, Agarwal P, Visel A, Xu SM, Pennacchio LA, Dubchak I, Krieg PA, Stainier DY, Black BL. 2008. Combinatorial regulation of endothelial gene expression by Ets and Forkhead transcription factors. Cell 135: 1053-1064.
Khiem D, Cyster JG, Schwarz JJ, Black BL. 2008. A p38 MAPK-MEF2C pathway regulates B-cell proliferation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 105: 17067-17072.
Rojas A, Kong SW, Agarwal P, Gilliss B, Pu WT, Black BL. 2008. GATA4 is a direct transcriptional activator of CyclinD2 and Cdk4 and is required for cardiomyocyte proliferation in anterior heart field-derived myocardium. Molecular and Cellular Biology 28: 5420-5431.
McCulley DJ, Kang JO, Martin JF, Black BL. 2008. BMP4 is required in the anterior heart field and its derivatives for endocardial cushion remodeling, outflow tract septation, and semilunar valve development. Developmental Dynamics 237: 3200-3209.
Black BL . 2007. Transcriptional pathways in second heart field development. Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology 18: 67-76. (Review)
Verzi MP, Agarwal P, Brown C, McCulley DJ, Schwarz JJ, Black BL. 2007. The transcription factor MEF2C is required for craniofacial development. Developmental Cell 12: 645-652.
Heidt AB, Rojas A, Harris IS, Black BL. 2007. Determinants of myogenic specificity within MyoD are required for non-canonical E box binding. Molecular and Cellular Biology 27: 5910-5920.
information last updated August 2009 |
Biomedical Sciences (BMS) Graduate Program
