Janell Wang Rose Hills
Dissecting the role of Noggin in mammalian neural crest development
The neural crest is a collection of multipotent stem cells that give rise to diverse cell types such as cartilage, bone, connective tissue, and neurons. These cells are extremely important for proper development. Many birth defects, such as congenital heart defects, which affect 1 in 110 live births in the United States, result from errors in the neural crest. A critical regulator of neural crest development is the BMP signaling pathway, which controls all aspects of neural crest development, from formation to differentiation. My project focuses on Noggin, an antagonist of the BMP signaling pathway. This summer, I will use mouse embryos as a model system to identify the expression pattern of Noggin in the neural crest across several stages of mammalian development. Using transgenic mice, I will evaluate the effects of losing Noggin on embryonic development. Finally, I will combine my interests in computational biology with wet bench research by analyzing single-cell RNA sequencing datasets generated in the lab and integrating them into my experimental workflow.
Message To Sponsor
Thank you to my donor for their support in funding my summer project! I really appreciate this opportunity to conduct summer research. I look forward to learning new skills as I embark on this journey.