Development of Sea Urchins, Ascidians, and Other Invertebrate Deuterostomes: Experimental Approaches

Dr. Charles A. Ettensohn, Professor of Biological Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, USA), is one of the world’s leading researchers using sea urchins and other echinoderms as experimental models to study mechanisms of embryogenesis. Over the past 30 years his laboratory has made major contributions to developmental biology. His current work focuses on the architecture, function, and evolution of developmental gene regulatory networks, with the overarching goal of elucidating the genetic control of anatomy. Dr. Ettensohn has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed articles, co-organized multiple international conferences on echinoderm development, and currently serves on the editorial boards of BMC Genomics, Genesis, and Faculty of 1000 (Biology).

Overview: Echinoderms and other invertebrate deuterostomes as experimental material for the study of cell and developmental biology; I. Procurement, Maintenance and Culture of Oocytes, Embryos, Larvae, and Adults; Care and maintenance of adult echinoderms (species, breeding seasons, suppliers, care and handling, aquarium maintenance,large-scale aquaculture); Echinoderm eggs and embryos: Procurement and culture (small and large scale); Culture of echinoderm larvae through metamorphosis; Isolation and maturation of echinoderm oocytes; Procurement and culture of ascidian embryos; Culture of adult ascidians and ascidian genetics; Hemichordate embryos - procurement, culture, and basic methods; Cephalochordate embryos - procurement, culture, and basic methods. II. Embryological
Approaches; Microinjection into eggs, blastomeres, and the blastocoel; Blastomere isolation and transplantation; Isolation and culture of micromeres and PMCs; Transplantation and ablation of cells at later stages; Cell adhesion assays. III. Cell Biological Approaches; Immunostaining; Light microscopy of embryos; Electron microscopy of embryos; Calcium imaging; Imaging components of cells with fluorescent probes; Isolating extracellular matrices; Isolating organelles; Measuring ion fluxes in gametes. IV. Molecular Biological Approaches; Isolating DNA, RNA, polysomes, and protein; m-RNA detection by in situ hybridization and RT-PCR; Using reporters to study cis-regulatory elements; Nuclear extracts, footprinting mobility shift assays, affinity purification; Expression of exogenous mRNAs; Disruption of gene function using antisense morpholinos and function-blocking antibodies; Generation and use of transgenic ascidian embryos. V. Genomics; Genomic resources for echinoderms: Sequence databases, arrayed libraries and filters; Genomic resources for ascidians: Sequence/expression databases and genome projects; Gene network analysis. VI. Echinoderm Eggs and Embryos in the Teaching Lab; Simple and reliable laboratory exercises. VII. Appendices.