My research interests center on the general question as to how extracellular cues influence cell differentiation during early embryonic development. Specifically, we study differentiation of the neural crest, which is a transient population of cells that segregate from the neural epithelium as the neural tube closes, migrate extensively throughout the embryo, and differentiate into a wide variety of derivatives. These include neurons and glia of the peripheral nervous system, melanocytes of the skin, adrenal chromaffin cells, as well as cranial and cardiac connective tissue structures. Growth factors can have profound effects on neural crest differentiation, and we are currently using a mutant mouse model to examine the role of one growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), in behavior of the crest cells that contribute to mesenchyme (early connective tissue) of the developing face and heart. This mouse, Patch, carries a deletion of one of the receptors for PDGF and exhibits craniofacial and cardiac abnormalities that may result from aberrant neural crest development, including defects in cell migration, extracellular lmatrix deposition, and/or tissue remodeling. We are examining these aspects of normal and mutant cell behavior in vitroand in vivo, uging a variety of morphological and molecular approaches. Not only do these studies contribute to our understanding of specific aspects of vertebrate development, but they also shed light on cell behaviors underlying particular human birth defects.
B.A., University of Michigan; M.A., University of Michigan
1981, Ph.D., University of Michigan
1981-1985, Postdoctoral fellow, University of Minnesota
1989-1994, Research Career Development Award
'Robbins, J.R., P.G. McGuire, B. Wehrle-Haller and
S.L. Rogers (1999) Diminished matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2)
in ectomesenchyme-derived tissues of the Patch mutant mouse:
regulation of MMP-2 by PDGF and effects on mesenchymal cell
migration.
Dev. Biol. 212, in press.
Rogers, S.L., J.L. Cutts, P.J. Gegick, P.G. McGuire, C.
Rosenberger, and S. Krisinski. (1994) Transforming growth
factor-B1 differentially regulates proliferation, morphology,
and extracellular matrix expression by three neural crest-dervied
neuroblastoma cell lines.
Exp. Cell Res. 211: 252-262.
Rogers, S. L., P.J. Gegick, S. M. Alexander, and P.G. McGuire.
(1992) Transforming growth factor-B alters differentiation in
cultures of avian neural crest-derived cells: effects on cell
morphology, proliferation, fibronectin synthesis, and
melanogenesis.
Dev. Biol. 151: 192-203.
Rogers, S. L., L. Bernard, and J.A. (1991) Weston. Substratum
effects on cell dispersal, morphology, and differentiation in
cultures of avian neural crest cells.
Dev. Biol. 141: 173-182.
