Contact

  • Academic
    hrosenbl@stanford.edu
    University - Scholar Department: Bioengineering Position: Postdoctoral Scholar

Additional Info

  • Mail Code: 5329

All Publications

  • Optogenetic manipulation of cellular communication using engineered myosin motors. Nature cell biology Zhang, Z., Denans, N., Liu, Y., Zhulyn, O., Rosenblatt, H. D., Wernig, M., Barna, M. 2021

    Abstract

    Cells achieve highly efficient and accurate communication through cellular projections such as neurites and filopodia, yet there is a lack of genetically encoded tools that can selectively manipulate their composition and dynamics. Here, we present a versatile optogenetic toolbox of artificial multi-headed myosin motors that can move bidirectionally within long cellular extensions and allow for the selective transport of GFP-tagged cargo with light. Utilizing these engineered motors, we could transport bulky transmembrane receptors and organelles as well as actin remodellers to control the dynamics of both filopodia and neurites. Using an optimized in vivo imaging scheme, we further demonstrate that, upon limb amputation in axolotls, a complex array of filopodial extensions is formed. We selectively modulated these filopodial extensions and showed that they re-establish a Sonic Hedgehog signalling gradient during regeneration. Considering the ubiquitous existence of actin-based extensions, this toolbox shows the potential to manipulate cellular communication with unprecedented accuracy.

    View details for DOI 10.1038/s41556-020-00625-2

    View details for PubMedID 33526902

  • A p53-dependent translational program directs tissue-selective phenotypes in a model of ribosomopathies. Developmental cell Tiu, G. C., Kerr, C. H., Forester, C. M., Krishnarao, P. S., Rosenblatt, H. D., Raj, N., Lantz, T. C., Zhulyn, O., Bowen, M. E., Shokat, L., Attardi, L. D., Ruggero, D., Barna, M. 2021

    Abstract

    In ribosomopathies, perturbed expression of ribosome components leads to tissue-specific phenotypes. What accounts for such tissue-selective manifestations as a result of mutations in the ribosome, a ubiquitous cellular machine, has remained a mystery. Combining mouse genetics and in vivo ribosome profiling, we observe limb-patterning phenotypes in ribosomal protein (RP) haploinsufficient embryos, and we uncover selective translational changes of transcripts that controlling limb development. Surprisingly, both loss of p53, which is activated by RP haploinsufficiency, and augmented protein synthesis rescue these phenotypes. These findings are explained by the finding that p53 functions as a master regulator of protein synthesis, at least in part, through transcriptional activation of 4E-BP1. 4E-BP1, a key translational regulator, in turn, facilitates selective changes in the translatome downstream of p53, and this thereby explains how RP haploinsufficiency may elicit specificity to gene expression. These results provide an integrative model to help understand how in vivo tissue-specific phenotypes emerge in ribosomopathies.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.devcel.2021.06.013

    View details for PubMedID 34242585

  • CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis reveals a role for ABCB1 in gut immune responses to Vibrio diazotrophicus in sea urchin larvae. The Journal of experimental biology Fleming, T. J., Schrankel, C. S., Vyas, H., Rosenblatt, H. D., Hamdoun, A. 2021; 224 (7)

    Abstract

    The ABC transporter ABCB1 plays an important role in the disposition of xenobiotics. Embryos of most species express high levels of this transporter in early development as a protective mechanism, but its native substrates are not known. Here, we used larvae of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus to characterize the early life expression and role of Sp-ABCB1a, a homolog of ABCB1. The results indicate that while Sp-ABCB1a is initially expressed ubiquitously, it becomes enriched in the developing gut. Using optimized CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing methods to achieve high editing efficiency in the F0 generation, we generated ABCB1a crispant embryos with significantly reduced transporter efflux activity. When infected with the opportunistic pathogen Vibrio diazotrophicus, Sp-ABCB1a crispant larvae demonstrated significantly stronger gut inflammation, immunocyte migration and cytokine Sp-IL-17 induction, as compared with infected control larvae. The results suggest an ancestral function of ABCB1 in host-microbial interactions, with implications for the survival of invertebrate larvae in the marine microbial environment.

    View details for DOI 10.1242/jeb.232272

    View details for PubMedID 34424982