Francesca Pignoni博士

研究抽象

The Pignoni laboratory seeks to understand how signaling pathways and transcription factors drive key steps in eye development.

我们主要利用果蝇， 黑腹果蝇, as our model system, since it provides an incomparable platform for genetic analyses. We also work in cell culture and in yeast to investigate transcriptional regulation, cell-cell signaling and protein-protein interactions at a molecular level. Lastly, we apply functional genomics approaches to understand gene networks.

主要研究领域:

1 - Integration of signaling pathway and nuclear factor inputs at developmental transitions.

We focus on two key developmental events as our experimental models: a) the progenitor => neuron transition in the developing fly eye epithelium. This model offers an ideal setting to dissected how evolutionarily conserved factors confer proneural competence to retinal progenitor cells then drive their development into photoreceptor neurons. b) the neural versus non-neural fate choice in the early fly eye epithelium. A fundamental binary choice occurs during early development of the eye in both fly and vertebrates leading to the acquisition of neural fate (retina) and non-neural fate (support tissue) in different regions of the optic epithelium. We seek to understand how multiple factors control this process in the fly and the significance of their striking conservation of roles in vertebrate eye development.

2 - Cofactor-mediated functional specialization of SO/SIX-based transcription complexes.

SO/SIX-based transcriptional complexes are involved in many developmental events and control the formation of the compound eye in the fly and of the ear and eye in vertebrates. 在人类, genes encoding SIX family transcription factors and one of their partner co-factors, EYA, are associated with eye and ear developmental defects that result in loss of vision or hearing. We use the fly model to understand how the diverse composition of SO/SIX-based complexes leads to functional specialization in transcriptional regulation.

3 - Modulation of BMP signaling and other functions of Lili/LMBR1L in fly and vertebrates.

We recently discovered that the fly homologue of the LMBR1L receptor, 我们叫它莉莉波德或莉莉, modulates the activity of the BMP2/4 signaling pathway in ovarian stem cells. We seek to understand the molecular mechanism for Lili function in the BMP and other signaling pathways, as well as to extend our findings to LMBR1L function in the human eye.

4 - Maintenance of tissue morphology in the eye disc of 果蝇.

通过基于rna的基因筛选, we have identified a set of genes that control the overal eye-disc morphology at a time of exponential growth and eye morphogenenesis. Analysis of the contribution of beta-Catenin to this process is currently in progress. ECM的作用, Integrin signaling and the Mitf trascription factor will be investigated in the future.

选定的出版物

1 - Integration of signaling pathway and nuclear factor inputs at developmental transitions.

Neal SJ, 周问 and Pignoni F: The major cellular phophatase PP2A suppresses retina fate and promotes peripodial epithelium in the eye disc of 果蝇. (提交)

周问, 于L, 弗里德里希·米, Pignoni F: Distinct regulation of atonal in a visual organ of 果蝇: Organ-specific enhancer and lack of autoregulation in the larval eye. 开发生物 2017, 421:67-76.

周问, DeSantis DF, 弗里德里希·米, Pignoni F: Shared and distinct mechanisms of atonal regulation in 果蝇 ocelli and compound eyes. 开发生物 2016, 418:10-16.

张T, 周问, 皮格诺尼F: Yki/YAP, Sd/TEAD and Hth/MEIS control tissue specification in the 果蝇 eye disc epithelium. 《推荐最近最火的赌博软件》 2011, 6:e22278.

2 - Cofactor-mediated functional specialization of SO/SIX-based transcription complexes.

周琦，陈志强，陈志强. Generation of single-PPI defective Sine oculis variants for functional analysis in vivo. (准备)

穆迪SA, 尼尔森公里, 肯扬KL, Alfandari D, Pignoni F. Using Xenopus to discover new genes involved in Branchiootorenal Spectrum Disorders. [j] .中国生物医学工程学报，2015,33 (4):557 - 557.

尼尔森公里, Pignoni F, 燕B, Moody SA: 发展al expression patterns of candidate cofactors for vertebrate six family transcription factors. Dev达因 2010, 239:3446-3466.

肯扬KL, 扬州维, Cai CQ, Tran年代, clouse C, 癸烯G, Ranade年代, Pignoni F: Partner specificity is essential for proper function of the SIX-type homeodomain proteins Sine oculis and Optix during fly eye development. 开发生物 2005, 286:158-168.

Brugmann SA, Pandur PD, 肯扬KL, Pignoni F, Moody SA: Six1 promotes a placodal fate within the lateral neurogenic ectoderm by functioning as both a transcriptional activator and repressor. 发展 2004, 131:5871-5881.

Pignoni F, 胡B, 他KH, 小J, 嘉里蒂巴, Zipursky SL: The eye-specification proteins So and Eya form a complex and regulate multiple steps in 果蝇 eye development. 细胞 1997, 91:881-891.

3 - Modulation of BMP signaling and other functions of Lili/LMBR1L in fly and vertebrates.

李建军，李建军，李建军，李建军，李建军; 果蝇 ML-DmD17-c3 cells respond robustly to Dpp and exhibit complex transcriptional feedback on BMP signaling components. 生物医学工程学报，2019,19 (1):1 - 4.

Dolezal D, 刘Z, 周问, Pignoni F: Fly LMBR1/LIMR-type protein Lilipod promotes germ-line stem cell self-renewal by enhancing BMP signaling.美国国家科学基金委 2015, 112:13928-13933.

4 - Maintenance of tissue morphology in the eye disc of 果蝇.

几份手稿正处于不同的准备阶段.