The Role of Eya Genes in Early Mammalian Ear Morphogenesis

Mclaughlin Research Institute, Great Falls MT

Investigators

Abstract

xu 0078246 Distinct organs in the body of human are formed by similar signals through cell-cell communications. This proposal focuses on the genetic details that tell cells to form the ear and where to form. The mammalian ear formation involves a series of different signals from different adjacent tissues. However, despite much speculation as to the signals from neighboring tissues, the identity of the signals and how the cells communicate with each other are not known. A gene called Eyes absent 1 has been knocked out in mice. Mutations in the same gene in fruit flies cause no eye formation. Interestingly, Eya1 mutant mice develop no ears and the cells normally forming the ear die from very early embryonic stages, indicating that Eya1 is a key early gene required for ear development. This proposal will use Eya1- and other Eya-deficient mice to study how the mammalian ears form in appropriate places in the body by molecular and genetic approaches. This project begins to dissect out the molecular and genetic information required for normal formation of the mammalian ear. Thus, the major significance of the proposed studies is that they represent one of the first attempts to define specific gene function in the context of the normal developmental mechanisms operating in ear formation.