Morphogenesis is the process by which cells adopt their specific shapes, sizes, and relationships with neighboring cells. Our lab studies the morphogenesis of developing skin cells and sensory neurons, which together mediate touch sensation. The skin at early developmental stages consists of two epithelial layers, each with distinct functions and morphologies. Sensory neurons project elaborately branched cellular processes called peripheral axons into the territory between the two skin layers to detect touch stimuli. We investigate how each of these cell types adopts its distinct morphological features and how skin cells and neurons influence each other’s morphogenesis. To study these questions we use zebrafish embryos and larvae as a model. Because zebrafish eggs are externally fertilized and their embryos are optically clear, cellular behaviors can be imaged in live animals. Transgenic lines allow us to visualize specific cells and subcellular processes, laser-based techniques allow us to damage cells at precise times and places to study repair, and genetic manipulations provide insight into the molecular underpinnings of cellular behaviors. By studying basic cellular processes we hope to shed light on how they are impacted by damage and disease.

 

Dr. Sagasti received his PhD from UCSF, where he worked with Cori Bargmann studying celll specification and left/right asymmetry in the nervous system of the nematode C. elegans. He began using zebrafish as a model at the Skirball Institute, NYU Medical Center as a post-doc with Alex Schier. In the summer of 2005 he was a Grass Foundation Fellow at the Marine Biological Labs in Woods Hole, Massachussetts. He began as a UCLA faculty member in the MCDB department in September 2005. His lab uses a combination of imaging, molecular, and genetic approaches in zebrafish to investigate on the morphogenesis of sensory axons and skin cells during development and repair.