Tissue homeostasis: Development, aging and regeneration

Research at the Institute for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology is focussed on the question how tissues and organs are formed during embryogenesis and maintained during regeneration and aging. These processes are regulated by extracellular growth factors, intracellular signal transduction pathways and gene regulatory networks. We are focussing in our work on heart, kidney, bone, and the nervous system. To tackle these questions, we use different model organisms such as Mus musculus, Xenopus laevis, Danio rerio, Drosophila melanogaster or murine embryonic stem cells. We also use systems biology approaches to gain deeper insights into these processes.

Publication highlights of research group leaders

Kagermeier-Schenk B,  Wehner D,  Özhan-Kizil G, Yamamoto H, Li J, Kirchner K,  Hoffmann C, Stern P, Kikuchi A, Schambony A,  Weidinger G. Waif1/5T4 Inhibits Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling and Activates Noncanonical Wnt Pathways by Modifying LRP6 Subcellular Localization. Developmental Cell 21, 1129-43

Knopf F, Hammond C,  Chekuru A, Kurth T, Hans S, Weber CW, Mahatma G, Fisher S, Brand M, Schulte-Merker S, Weidinger G (2011). Bone regenerates via dedifferentiation of osteoblasts in the zebrafish fin. Developmental Cell 20, 713-724

Bugner V, Tecza A, Gessert S, Kühl M (2011) Peter Pan functions independent of its role in ribosome biogenesis during early eye and craniofacial cartilage development in Xenopus laevis, Development, 138, 2369-78

Wacker SA, Alvarado C, von Wichert G, Knippschild U, Wiedenmann J, Clauss K, Nienhaus GU, Hameister H, Baumann B, Borggrefe T, Knöchel W, Oswald F (2011) RITA, a novel modulator of Notch signalling, acts via nuclear export of RBP-J. EMBO J. 30, 43-56.

Knopf F, Schnabel K, Haase C, Pfeifer K, Anastassiadis K, Weidinger G (2010). Dual-inducible TetON systems for tissue-specific conditional gene expression in zebrafish. PNAS 107, 19933-8

Mann T, Bodmer R, Pandur P (2009) The Drosophila homolog of vertebrate Islet1 is a key component in early cardiogenesis, Development, 136, 317-26

Cao Y, Siegel D, Donow C, Knöchel S, Yuan L, Knöchel W (2007) POU-V factors antagonize maternal VegT activity and beta-Catenin signaling in Xenopus embryos. EMBO J. 26, 2942-2954

Sirbu IO, Duester G (2006) Retinoic-acid signaling in node ectoderm and posterior neural plate directs left-right patterning of somitic mesoderm. Nat. Cell. Biol. 8, 271-277

Maurus D, Heligon C, Bürger-Schwärzler A, Brändli A, Kühl M (2005) Noncanonical Wnt-4 signaling and EAF2 are required for eye development in Xenopus laevis, EMBO J. 24, 1181-1181

Pandur P, Läsche M, Eisenberg L, Kühl M (2002) Wnt-11 stimulation of a non-canonical Wnt-pathway is required for cardiogenesis, Nature 418, 636-641

Philipp M, Brede ME, Hadamek K, Gessler M, Lohse MJ, Hein L. (2002) Placental α2-adrenoceptors control vascular development at the interface between mother and embryo.
Nat Genet. 31(3): 311-5