Clemens Kiecker

I am interested in the genetic network that regulates the development of the vertebrate forebrain. I am using gain- and loss-of-function approaches in chick and mouse embryos as well as in tissue culture to characterise the role of extracellular signals (such as Wnts and Sonic hedgehog) and their intracellular transducers in order to understand how they establish regional identity and how they regulate the balance between proliferation and neuronal differentiation. One of the key interests of my lab is how regional cellular competence is established in the developing brain, i.e. what makes neural progenitor cells interpret given signals differently in a context-dependent fashion. I am also interested in how boundaries are established between neighbouring cell populations once their regional identity has been set, such that cells from these different regions are prevented from intermingling.

vertebrate forebrain embryogenesis; Sonic hedgehog, Wnt signalling; organisers; competence; compartment boundaries