Gail R. Martin, PhD, Professor
gail.r.martin@ucsf.edu
Administrative Assistant: 415-476-2699
Martin Lab Website

Vertebrate Organogensis

The Martin lab is interested in understanding the mechanisms that control the early steps in organogenesis in the vertebrate embryo, and the subsequent outgrowth and patterning of the developing organs. We are particularly interested in the roles played by members of the Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) family of signaling molecules and their antagonists in these processes. For the most part we use genetic analysis in mice to uncover the functions of these molecules in the developing embryo.

Complete list of Publications/PubMed

Selected Publications

Grieshammer, U., Ma, L., Plump, A. S., Wang, F., Tessier-Lavigne, M., Martin, G. R. (2004). SLIT2-mediated ROBO2 signaling restricts kidney induction to a single site. Dev. Cell 709-717.

Basson, M. A., Akbulut, S., Watson-Johnson, J., Simon, R., Carroll, T.J., Shakya, R., Gross, I., Martin, G. R., Lufkin, T., McMahon, A. P., Wilson, P. D., Costantini, F. D., Mason, I. J., and Licht, J. D. (2005). Sprouty1 is a critical regulator of GDNF/RET-mediated kidney induction. Dev. Cell 8, 229-239.

Shim, K., Minowada, G. Coling, D. E., and Martin, G. R. (2005). Sprouty2, a mouse deafness gene, regulates cell fate decisions in the auditory sensory epithelium by antagonizing FGF signaling. Dev. Cell 8, 553-564.

Grieshammer, U., Cebrián, C., Ilagan, R., Meyers, E. N., Herzlinger, D. and Martin, G. R. (2005). FGF8 is required for cell survival at distinct stages of nephrogenesis and for regulation of gene expression in nascent nephrons. Development 132, 3847-3857.

Lu, P., Minowada, G., and Martin, G.R. (2006). Increasing Fgf4 expression in the mouse limb bud causes polysyndactyly and rescues the skeletal defects that result from loss of Fgf8 function. Development 133, 33-42.

Storm, E.E., Garel, S., Borello, U., Hebert, J.M., Martinez, S., McConnell, S.M., Martin, G.R., and Rubenstein, J.L.R. (2006). Dose-dependent functions of Fgf8 in regulating telencephalic patterning centers. Development 133, 1831-1844.

Klein, O.D., Minowada, G., Peterkova, R., Kangas, A., Yu, B.D., Lesot, H., Peterka, M., Jernvall, J. and Martin, G. R. (2006). Sprouty genes control diastema tooth development via bidirectional antagonism of epithelial-mesenchymal FGF signaling. Dev. Cell 11, 181-190.

Brown, D., Yu, B.D., Joza, N., Bénit, P., Meneses, J., Firpo, M., Rustin, P., Penninger, M., and Martin, G.R. (2006). Loss of Aif function causes cell death in the mouse embryo but the temporal progression of patterning is normal. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 103, 9918-9123.

Vogeli, K., Jin, S.-W., Martin, G.R., Stainier, D.Y. (2006). A Common Progenitor for Hematopoietic and Endothelial Lineages in the Zebrafish Gastrula. Nature 443, 337-339.