How do cells talk to each other to form the inner ear?
Ian Swinburne, Professor
Molecular and Cell Biology
Closed. This professor is continuing with Spring 2024 apprentices on this project; no new apprentices needed for Fall 2024.
Auditory and vestibular senses are classic and essential senses of the body. The inner ear’s development, or morphogenesis, is a complex and well-regulated process that is guided by cell communication or signaling pathways. When signaling pathways become dysregulated, it often leads to deformities and/or diseases. And in the case of the inner ear, this can lead to syndromes such as hearing loss or vertigo. There is a surprisingly small number of signaling pathways that cells use to coordinate tissue and organ development. Two of the important pathways during development are the canonical Wnt (mediated by beta catenin’s regulation of transcription) and non-canonical Wnt pathways (a subset of which is mediated by Rac1 and Jun kinase). These pathways are integral for stem cell pluripotency–the ability to develop into more than one mature cell or tissue type–and cell fate.
To tackle issues of inner ear syndromes, the goal of the project is to gain a deeper understanding of how the ear develops by studying the role of canonical and non-canonical Wnt signaling in this process. For this project, ear morphogenesis will be studied in zebrafish as they are an ideal model due to their transparent embryos allowing for an optically accessible ear. The student will establish a transgenic zebrafish line that expresses a fluorescent protein gene reporter that can track non-canonical Wnt signaling activity. The gene reporter that will be used is a kinase translocation reporter (KTR) that is designed to track a phosphorylation event, which is an indication of an active signaling pathway. Once a transgenic line is established, the student will investigate the characteristics and signaling activity of non-canonical Wnt during ear morphogenesis.
Role: Role:
● Cloning experiments, which includes PCR, bacteria transformations, plasmid preparation, and plasmid sequencing.
● Practice zebrafish husbandry, like breeding and one cell injections.
● Perform confocal imaging to characterize and measure cell signaling activity.
● In situ hybridization chain reaction and immunostaining to track changes in gene expression.
Qualifications: ● Students who are looking for their first research experience should demonstrate capacity to learn laboratory techniques in their application (e.g. completion of a laboratory class, strong grades in STEM courses, etc.)
● An ideal candidate is detail-oriented, highly motivated, curious, and passionate about scientific discovery, and has a clear vision for how a URAP experience will aid them in their career goals.
● Sophomores preferred, but freshmen and juniors with strong qualifications will be considered as well.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Justine Ramos, Graduate Student
Hours: 12 or more hours
Related website: http://www.swinburnelab.org/
Biological & Health Sciences