Our goal is to understand how cells in the embryo translate and integrate the extracellular signals that control development. We are particularly interested in the Wnt family of secreted glycoproteins, which plays a key role in determining cell fate decisions and morphogenetic movements during embryogenesis. As a model system we use the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans, one of the major animal model systems in current genetic research. The main advantage of C. elegans is its simplicity. The adult hermaphrodite worm is made up of only 959 somatic cells, which can easily be recognized using DIC microscopy. Despite this low cell number, all major cell types (including neurons, muscle cells, epidermal cells and germ cells) are represented in the worm. C. elegans has a relatively compact genome of about 100 Mbp, encoding a predicted 19.000 genes. Importantly, most of the basic mechanisms of development and signal transduction are conserved between nematodes and vertebrates, enabling the study of these processes in a well defined and simple model system.  We study Wnt signaling in C. elegans. First of all, we use C. elegans genetics and genomics to discover new components of the canonical Wnt signaling pathway. In addition, we are interested in the unique variations on the conserved canonical and non-canonical Wnt signaling mechanisms that have evolved in nematodes.

For more information go to: www.niob.knaw.nl/research groups/Korswagen

 

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