Wnt signaling biosensors

• Applicant: Dr. Perilis Pantazis
• Subject Area: Cell Biology
• Term: from 2008 to 2011
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 68955457

Wnt signaling regulates many aspects of embryonic development. Mostly inferred from mutant analysis, defects leading to abnormal activation of this signal pathway have been associated with human diseases, such as cancer. In recent years, much has been discovered about the molecular and biochemical characteristics of various components of the Wnt signal transduction pathway during signaling. In contrast, the cell biology of such signaling events in development has been poorly investigated. To get a better idea of such events, I am interested in the following questions: 1) When does Wnt signaling occur? 2) For how long does it take place during developmental processes? 3) In which cellular compartment does it take place? The aim of my project is to address these questions by developing biosensors for following in vivo signaling events at different levels of the Wnt signaling cascade. I plan to use FRET-based sensors, as previously used to study other signaling pathways, to monitor Wnt signal activation. In addition, in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Demetri Psaltis, I plan to build new sensors with larger sensitivity and higher spatiotemporal resolution by employing Field Resonance Enhanced Second Harmonic (FRESH). The biosensors will be used to follow signaling during early zebrafish development, and should have broad applicability in biology and in cancer research.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: USA
• Host: Professor Scott Fraser, Ph.D.