My laboratory is interested in the broad areas of cell polarity, cell movement and cell shape changes during vertebrate development, focusing on endodermal morphogenesis.  We use genetic and cell biological approaches to analyse endodermal cell movement and cell shape changes during zebrafish development. We use a transgenic line of zebrafish that expresses the green fluorescent protein (GFP) in the endodermal cells, allowing their movements to be observed in live embryos using a fluorescence microscope.
Our long term aim is to contribute to the understanding of endodermally-derived human cancers such as colorectal cancer. Colorectal cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia, and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. In all cancers, metastasis (aggressive tumour invasion) is the main cause of cancer patient death. Metastasis of colorectal cancer can only occur when the tumour cells undergo cell shape changes and acquire invasive (migratory) behaviour.
Our hypothesis is that the genetic pathways that endodermal cells use to undergo migrations and cell shape changes during embryonic development are the same genetic pathways that adult intestinal cells use to change shape and become invasive during colorectal cancer metastasis. Hence, by thoroughly investigating these cell movements in zebrafish, we can identify novel pathways for colorectal cancer progression in humans.
Zebrafish
Zebrafish are a wonderful model system for vertebrate genetics. In particular, they are used extensively to study the genetics of development, because they have characteristics useful for both genetics and embryology.
They are easy to keep in large numbers and easy to raise. Because the females lay their eggs, we have access to the embryos right from the earliest stage, and so we can observe them without interference (not possible with mouse embryos). The embryos develop very fast, with the rudiments of all organs being present after just 48 hours of development. In fact, the heart is starting to beat at 24 hours old. The embryos are transparent, and so it is easy to see many of the organs just with light microscopy. It is also possible to visualize deeper tissues, including internal organs such as the liver, pancreas and intestines, by using transgenic zebrafish that express a fluorescent protein (such as GFP) in that tissue.
See more about the zebrafish as a model organism
Recent Publications
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