<p>Phelps WA, Hurton MD, Ayers TN, Carlson AE, Ros
Phelps WA, Hurton MD, Ayers TN, Carlson AE, Rosenbaum JC, Lee MT. 2023. Hybridization led to a rewired pluripotency network in the allotetraploid Xenopus laevis. eLife 12: e83952.
Contact
Office: (412) 624-9186
Lab: (412) 624-9191
A518 Langley Hall
4249 Fifth Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Potential Ph.D. students interested in gene regulation, development, evo-devo and/or computational genomics are encouraged to apply here!
For most animals and plants, the genetic instructions that guide early embryogenesis are inherited as RNA. During a short window of development, these RNA coordinate all cellular activity, including the processes that induce the first rounds of transcription from the embryonic genome. Eventually those maternally inherited RNA are destroyed, as newly transcribed embryonic RNA assume control of the embryo. This period of development is called the maternal-to-zygotic transition.
Maternally inherited RNA encode the instructions to reprogram an egg into pluripotent embryonic stem cells, the precursors to all cell types in the adult organism. We study eggs, embryos, and their RNA and genomes to better understand the mechanisms underlying cellular identity and pluripotency, and how they have evolved. Our tool kit includes genetics, embryology, and high-throughput experimental and computational genomics across animals, including (so far) zebrafish, Xenopus, and the cnidarian Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus.
- Matthew Hurton, Graduate Student
- Jayesh Kumar Sundaram, Graduate Student
- Tina Choi, Research Technician
<p>Ayers TN, Nicotra ML, Lee MT. 2023. Parallels a
Ayers TN, Nicotra ML, Lee MT. 2023. Parallels and contrasts between the cnidarian and bilaterian maternal-to-zygotic transition are revealed in Hydractinia embryos. PLOS Genetics 19(7): e1010845. (Cover)
<p>Blatt P, Wong-Deyrup SW, McCarthy A, Breznak S,
Blatt P, Wong-Deyrup SW, McCarthy A, Breznak S, Hurton MD, Upadhyay M, Bennink B, Camacho J, Lee MT‡, Rangan P‡. 2021. RNA degradation is required for the germ-cell to maternal transition in Drosophila. Current Biology 31(14), 2984-2994.e7. ‡ Co-corresponding authors.
<p>Phelps W, Carlson AE, Lee MT. 2021. Optimized d
Phelps W, Carlson AE, Lee MT. 2021. Optimized design of tiled antisense oligos for targeted RNA depletion. Nucleic Acids Res 49(1): e5.
Yartseva V, Takacs CM, Vejnar CE, Lee MT‡, Gira
Yartseva V, Takacs CM, Vejnar CE, Lee MT‡, Giraldez AG‡. 2017. RESA identifies mRNA regulatory sequences with high resolution. Nature Methods 14, 201-207.
Lee MT#, Bonneau AR#, Giraldez AJ‡. Zygotic gen
Lee MT#, Bonneau AR#, Giraldez AJ‡. Zygotic genome activation during the maternal-to-zygotic transition. 2014. Annu Rev Cell Dev Biol 30(1), 18.1-18.33.
Lee MT#, Bonneau AR#, Takacs CM, Bazzini AB, Di
Lee MT#, Bonneau AR#, Takacs CM, Bazzini AB, DiVito KR, Fleming ES, Giraldez AJ. 2013. Nanog, Pou5f1 and SoxB1 activate zygotic gene expression during the maternal-to-zygotic transition. Nature 503(7476), 360-364.
Bazzini AA#, Lee MT#, Giraldez AJ. 2012. Riboso
Bazzini AA#, Lee MT#, Giraldez AJ. 2012. Ribosome profiling shows that miR-430 reduces translation before causing mRNA decay in zebrafish. Science 336(6078), 233-237.
Dr. Lee received his Ph.D. in Genomics and Computational Biology in 2009, with Dr. Junhyong Kim at the University of Pennsylvania; was a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Antonio Giraldez at Yale University; and joined the Department in 2016.
Pan-American Society for Evolutionary Developmental Biology Junior Faculty Award, 2024
Outstanding New Investigator – Int’l Xenopus Board, 2023
Basil O'Connor Scholar – March of Dimes, 2017-2019