Englert Laboratory

Molecular genetics

Molecular basis of urogenital development

Many "disease" genes in humans play essential roles in the development of specific organs. Examples are the Wilms' tumor suppressor gene wt1 that, in its mutated form, causes a pediatric kidney cancer and is indispensable for gonad and kidney development in humans and mice. Kidney diseases are also caused by members of the Eya ("Eyes absent") and Six ("Sine oculis") gene families (branchio-oto-renal syndrome). In order to understand how mutations of those genes cause malformations in humans, we are trying to explore the molecular mechanisms by which the respective gene products exert their function. For this we are employing biochemistry, cell biology as well as animal models (mouse, zebrafish).

Pathways regulating aging and lifespan in a short-lived vertebrate

The identification of vertebrate genes, which control aging is hampered by the lifespan of available animal models. Recently, a species of annual fish with an exceptionally short lifespan was described [Valdesalici S, Cellerino A (2003) Proc Biol Sci. 270, S189-S191]. This species is named Nothobranchius furzeri and has a maximum life expectancy in captivity of just three months.
We want to use N. furzeri to analyze and characterize the biochemical pathways that regulate aging in vertebrates. » more

Projects

Identification of targets of the Wilms' tumor suppressor wt1 in gonad and kidney development
Analysis of the Pax/Six/Eya network in kidney organogenesis
Characterization of the wt1 promoter in mouse and zebrafish
Analysis of the biochemical pathways regulating aging in the short-lived vertebrate Nothobranchius furzeri

Recent selected publications

Hartmann N, Englert C (2012) A microinjection protocol for the generation of transgenic killifish (species: Nothobranchius furzeri). Dev Dyn., epub ahead of print. [PubMed]
Hartmann N, Reichwald K, Wittig I, Dröse S, Schmeisser S, Lück C, Graf M, Gausmann U, Terzibasi E, Cellerino A, Ristow M, Brandt U, Platzer M, Englert C (2011) Mitochondrial DNA copy number and function decrease with age in the short-lived fish Nothobranchius furzeri. Aging Cell, 10, 824-831. [PubMed]
Diep CQ, Ma D, Deo RC, Holm TM, Naylor RW, Arora N, Wingert RA, Bollig F, Djordjevic G, Lichman B, Zhu H, Ikenaga T, Ono F, Englert C, Cowan CA, Hukriede NA, Handin RI, Davidson AJ (2011) Identification of adult nephron progenitors capable of kidney regeneration in zebrafish. Nature, 470, 95-100. [PubMed]
Landgraf K, Bollig F, Trowe M-O, Besenbeck B, Ebert C, Kruspe D, Kispert A, Hänel F, Englert C (2010) Sipl1 and Rbck1 are novel Eya1-binding proteins with a role in craniofacial development. Mol Cell Biol, 30, 5764-5775. [PubMed]
Kim MS, Yoon SK, Bollig F, Kitagaki J, Hur W, Whye NJ, Wu YP, Rivera MN, Park JY, Kim HS, Malik K, Bell DW, Englert C, Perantoni AO, Lee SB (2010) A novel Wilms tumor 1 (WT1) target gene negatively regulates the WNT signaling pathway. J Biol Chem, 285, 14585-14593. [PubMed]
Bollig F, Perner B, Besenbeck B, Köthe S, Ebert C, Taudien S, Englert C (2009) A highly conserved retinoic acid responsive element controls wt1a expression in the zebrafish pronephros. Development, 136, 2883-2892. [PubMed]
Hartmann N, Reichwald K, Lechel A, Graf M, Kirschner J, Dorn A, Terzibasi E, Wellner J, Platzer M, Rudolph KL, Cellerino A, Englert C (2009) Telomeres shorten while Tert expression increases during ageing of the short-lived fish Nothobranchius furzeri. Mech Ageing Dev, 130, 290-296. [PubMed]
Makki MS, Heinzel T, Englert C (2008) TSA downregulates Wilms tumor gene 1 (Wt1) expression at multiple levels. Nucleic Acids Res, 36, 4067-4078. [PubMed]
Perner B, Englert C, Bollig F (2007) The Wilms' tumor genes wt1a and wt1b control different steps during formation of the zebrafish pronephros. Dev Biol, 309, 87-96. [PubMed]
Klattig J, Sierig R, Kruspe D, Besenbeck B, Englert C (2007) The Wilms' tumor protein wt1 is an activator of the anti-Müllerian hormone receptor gene Amhr2. Mol Cell Biol, 27, 4355-4364. [PubMed]
Bollig F, Mehringer R, Perner B, Hartung C, Schäfer M, Schartl M, Volff JN, Winkler C, Englert C (2006) Identification and comparative expression analysis of a second wt1 gene in zebrafish. Dev Dyn, 235, 554-561. [PubMed]

Last update: April 10, 2012

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