Name: Dr. Elena S Silva

Position: Professor & Vice Dean for Faculty Affairs

Research Description:

The embryos of the African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, have the been a favorite tool of classical embryologists for over 100 years. Xenopus has been useful in the study of vertebrate development because the embryos are large, easily manipulated and develop externally, allowing analysis at very early, picture of Xenopus laevishighly conserved stages of development. Therefore, embryos can be subjected to microsurgical manipulation to remove or transplant embryonic tissues, or injected to express large quantities of a transcription factor. Such experiments have provided information on the inductive contacts required for pattern formation and have defined many of the molecular interactions involved in early development.

The goal of the Silva-Casey lab is to understand the transcriptional regulation of a class of genes involved in the formation of the early vertebrate body plan. Patterning events such as the establishment of neural tissues require a series of signal transduction events that lead to the transcription of a set of genes. Few of the details of transcriptional regulation in vertebrate development have been deciphered. However, recently, a technique to generate transgenic frogs has revolutionized the field, allowing rapid analysis of promoter function in a large number of embryos. This technique along with embryology, traditional biochemical and molecular assays and expression screens now enable us to define the factors required for regulation of genes involved in early vertebrate development. Presently we are interested in studying neural induction and specification in both Xenopus and the sea squirt Ciona intestinalis. By studying both organisms, we can determine transcriptional mechanisms and investigate the evolutionary conservation of genes and these mechanisms. The aspects of this project in which we are most interested are: 1. Identification of genes and regulatory regions involved in early neural induction in the sea squirt (Ciona intestinalis). 2. Regulation of a class of transcription factor involved in neural stem cell maintenance, competence and differentiation in Xenopus laevis. 3. Comparison of the regulatory mechanisms of these neural genes between the urochordates (Ciona) and anurans (Xenopus).

Lab Memberships

Harland Lab (Post-doc, Alumni)
Silva-Casey Lab (Principal Investigator/Director)

Contact Information

Address:
Georgetown University
Department of Biology
406 Reiss Science Building
Washington, DC
20057, USA

Email: Elena.Silva@georgetown.edu
Web Page: http://gufaculty360.georgetown.edu/s/contact/00336000014RlvYAAS/elena-silva