Prof. Dr. Alex Hajnal
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By January 1st, 2010, Biology at the University of Zurich has been reorganized. In this context, the Institute of Zoology has been integrated into two new units. Our group is now a part of the new  |
Signal transduction in Caenorhabditis elegans
| The roundworm (Nematode) Caenorhabditis elegans has become a popular model organism that is used to address a variety of questions in Biology. We are interested in the signals that cells exchange in order to control cell proliferation and differentiation during the development of the animal. In particular, the development of the hermaphrodite vulva (s. figure) serves us as a paradigm to study intercellular communication and cell fate determination. During vulval development, the coordinate action of three evolutionary conserved signal transduction pathways (the Wingless, Ras and Notch pathways) controls the differentiation of vulval cells. In a first project, we are studying the C. elegans homologue of the human APC tumor suppressor gene. APC is mutated in most cases of human colorectal cancer. In C. elegans , APC is required for the transduction of a Wingless signal that specifies the identity and polarity of the vulval precursor cells. In a second project, we are investigating how negative regulators of RAS signal transduction prevent the differentiation of excess cells during vulval development. |
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