Event

Biophysics Seminar: "Reengineering somite segmentation without the vertebrate segmentation clock"

Thursday, October 12, 2023
10:00 a.m.
1136 Physical Sciences Complex
https://ipst.umd.edu/graduate-programs/biophysics/events/seminars/fall_2023_seminars

Speaker: Ertugrul Ozbudak (Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center)

Title: "Reengineering somite segmentation without the vertebrate segmentation clock"

Abstract: Somitogenesis establishes the segmental pattern of the vertebral column. A molecular segmentation clock sets the pace of somite formation. However, how cells are primed to form a segment boundary at a specific location remains unclear. Here we developed precise reporters for the clock and double phosphorylated ERK (ppERK) gradient in zebrafish. We show that the Her1–Her7 oscillator drives segmental commitment by periodically lowering ppERK, therefore projecting its oscillation onto the ppERK gradient. Pulsatile inhibition of the ppERK gradient can fully substitute for the role of the clock and reengineer segmentation in the absence of a molecular clock. The clock functions upstream of ppERK, which in turn enables neighboring cells to discretely establish somite boundaries.