Ross Metzger, PhD, Fellow
ross.metzger@ucsf.edu
415-476-5462

Genetic and Molecular Mechanism

The Metzger lab is interested in the genetic and molecular mechanisms that control the three-dimensional architecture of the lung during development and evolution, and how this patterning information is translated into the cell behaviors of morphogenesis. In order to understand the logic of the airway branching program, we have reconstructed the branching pattern in the developing mouse lung.
 
Using this airway lineage, we have begun a comprehensive mutant analysis to identify and assign specific functions to genes in the program.  Further, because we have also mapped the development of the pulmonary blood vessels and other tissues in the lung, we are using the mutant screen to look for genes required to coordinate the patterns of these tissues with the airways.  We are also using genetic approaches to understand how key genes in the airway branching program are regulated, and how differences in gene regulation contribute to species-specific differences in pattern.