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Jeremy F. Nance

Jeremy F. Nance, PhD

Research Professor, Department of Cell Biology

Keywords
C. elegans, embryogenesis, cell polarity, gastrulation, organogenesis, epithelial cells, germ cells, cancer, developmental genetics, stem cell biology
Summary

Our lab uses the embryo of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a simple model to understand how cell interactions and movements shape the developing body plan. As in many organisms, cells in the early C. elegans embryo polarize in response to cell–cell contacts. Polarity in early C. elegans cells provides a foundation for subsequent cytoskeletal asymmetries that direct the cell movements of gastrulation, which puts cells of the correct type in the appropriate position within the embryo. Following gastrulation, cells assemble together to form organs, which are sculpted into their final form.  

We study each of these processes in our lab:

  • Understanding how cell contacts induce polarity in early embryonic cells: we have identified a signaling pathway that translates cell contact cues into cell polarity by regulating the spatial activity of Rho GTPases.

  • Learning how gastrulation movements are triggered in specific cells: we have found that primordial germ cells employ a unique “hitchhiking” mechanism, regulated by E-cadherin, that enables them to be pulled into the embryo during gastrulation.

  • Uncovering how the various cell types of an organ assemble together: we have examined the assembly of the primordial gonad as a simple model for organogenesis. The primordial gonad contains two germ cells and two somatic gonad cells, which undergo an elaborate assembly process that includes migration, stopping, pseudopod extension, and wrapping. We have uncovered a surprising intercellular cannibalism event that helps to sculpt cells in the gonad.

  • Investigating how epithelial cells and tubes form during organogenesis: we have identified roles for partitioning defective proteins PAR-3 and PAR-6 in epithelial cell polarization and junction assembly, and have shown that PAR proteins cooperate with the vesicle-tethering exocyst complex to regulate lumen formation in a single-celled tube.

Phone

212-263-3156

Academic office

540-562 First Avenue

Fourth Floor, Lab 17

New York, NY 10016

Lab Website
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PhD from University of Arizona

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Priess lab

Schwartz, Aaron Z A; Abdu, Yusuff; Nance, Jeremy

Genetics. 2023 Nov 01; 225(3):

Schwartz, Aaron Z A; Tsyba, Nikita; Abdu, Yusuff; Patel, Maulik R; Nance, Jeremy

eLife. 2022 Oct 06; 11:

Schwartz, Aaron Z A; Nance, Jeremy

Developmental cell. 2020 May 04; 53(3):261-262

Montoyo-Rosario, José G; Armenti, Stephen T; Zilberman, Yuliya; Nance, Jeremy

Genetics. 2020 Apr; 214(4):941-959

McIntyre, Daniel C; Nance, Jeremy

Current biology. CB. 2020 Feb 24; 30(4):708-714.e4

Maniscalco, Chelsea; Hall, Allison E; Nance, Jeremy

Journal of cell biology. 2020 Feb 03; 219(2):