| |
 |
Edward Hedgecock
Professor
Department of Biology
CMDB
Graduate Program Faculty
B.S.
California Institute of Technology
Ph.D.
University of California, Santa Cruz
Postdoctoral
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, U.K.
1984-1988, Roche Institute of Molecular Biology |
|
Department of Biology
Johns Hopkins University
3400 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218-2685
U.S.A. |
Office Telephone:
Lab Telephone:
Department Fax
Lab Website:
|
410.516.8761
410.516.8381
410.516.5213
http://hedgecock.bio.jhu.edu |

Office- Mudd 16
Lab- Mudd 07 |
[Research Interests] [Representative Publications]
[Lab Members]
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Developmental Genetics of the Nervous System of Caenorhabditis Elegans
Various cells in animals migrate after their birth to distant sites where they divide or differentiate. Germline and gonadal
cells, for example, originate separately but move to a common site to form the reproductive primordia. Growth cones migrate along
glial or axonal surfaces to bring remote neurons into contact for synaptic communication. We are using genetics and molecular
biology to discover and analyze the spatial cues and navigational programs that guide complex migrations during development.
Each cell or axon migration comprises a series of attachments and detachments of motile cells to stationary cells, or extracellular
matrix, which support and guide their movements. Some migrations are simple dispersals away from an origin, but most follow
elaborate, stereotyped trajectories that presumably require sequential responsiveness to different extrinsic cues (see Figure). To
understand directed migration, we must identify the cues provided by substratum cells and establish their spatial distribution,
identify complementary receptors on migrating cells and elucidate navigational programs that activate these receptors in proper
sequence, and determine how receptor/ligand binding actually steers the leading edge of a cell or growth cone.
Mutants with abnormal cell or axonal trajectories can identify genes involved in the generation or detection of guidance cues.
Because of its cellular simplicity and excellent genetics, the free-living nematode C. elegans has proved useful for mutant
analyses of developmental processes, including migrations, that depend on interactions between distinct cell types. Nearly 30 genes
affecting cell migrations or axon outgrowth have been discovered to date. Some mig genes affect specific navigational steps while
others are strikingly pleiotropic. Two such genes have been sequenced thus far; their deduced products are a basement membrane
protein and a trans-membrane receptor, respectively.
For up-to-date information on current projects, recent news and links
to useful molecular biology/genomics tools, visit the lab website:
http://hedgecock.bio.jhu.edu
REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS
Walston T, Guo C, Proenca R, Wu M, Herman M, Hardin J, Hedgecock E. 2006 . mig-5/Dsh controls cell fate determination and cell migration in C. elegans. Dev Biol. 298:485-97.
Dong C, Muriel JM, Ramirez S, Hutter H, Hedgecock EM, Breydo L, Baskakov IV, Vogel BE. 2006. Hemicentin assembly in the extracellular matrix is mediated by distinct structural modules. J Biol Chem. 8;281(33):23606-10.
Kao G, Huang CC, Hedgecock EM, Hall DH, Wadsworth WG. 2006. The role of the laminin beta subunit in laminin heterotrimer assembly and basement membrane function and development in C. elegans. Dev Biol. 290(1):211-9.
Hutter H, Wacker I, Schmid C, Hedgecock EM. 2005. Novel genes controlling ventral cord asymmetry and navigation of pioneer axons in C. elegans. Dev Biol. 284(1):260-72.
Yochem J, Hall DH, Bell LR, Hedgecock EM, Herman RK. 2005. Isopentenyl-diphosphate isomerase is essential for viability of Caenorhabditis elegans. Mol Genet Genomics. 273(2):158-66. Epub 2005 Mar 12.
Wacker I, Schwarz V, Hedgecock EM, Hutter H. 2003. zag-1, a Zn-finger homeodomain transcription factor controlling neuronal differentiation and axon outgrowth in C. elegans. Development. 130(16):3795-805. PMID: 12835395.
Huang CC, Hall DH, Hedgecock EM, Kao G, Karantza V, Vogel BE, Hutter H, Chisholm AD, Yurchenco PD, Wadsworth WG. 2003. Laminin alpha subunits and their role in C. elegans development. Development. ul;130(14):3343-58.
Poinat P, De Arcangelis A, Sookhareea S, Zhu X, Hedgecock EM, Labouesse M, Georges-Labouesse E. 2002. A conserved interaction between beta1 integrin/PAT-3 and Nck-interacting kinase/MIG-15 that mediates commissural axon navigation in C. elegans. Curr Biol. 12(8):622-31.
Bercher M, Wahl J, Vogel BE, Lu C, Hedgecock EM, Hall DH, Plenefisch JD. 2001. mua-3, a gene required for mechanical tissue integrity in Caenorhabditis elegans, encodes a novel transmembrane protein of epithelial attachment complexes. J Cell Biol. 23;154(2):415-26.
Vogel BE, Hedgecock EM. 2001. Hemicentin, a conserved extracellular member of the immunoglobulin superfamily, organizes epithelial and other cell attachments into oriented line-shaped junctions. Development.128(6):883-94.
Kipreos ET, Gohel SP, Hedgecock EM. 2000. The C. elegans F-box/WD-repeat protein LIN-23 functions to limit cell division during development. Development. 127(23):5071-82.
Lab Members
Research Associates & Postdoctoral Fellows:
Harald Hutter
Carolyn Norris
Rui Proenca
Bruce Vogel
Technicians/Staff:
Na Li
Undergraduate Research Assistants:
Zhaoliang Lu
Irene Tham
|
|