ZFIN ID: ZDB-PERS-001206-1
Reugels, Alexander
Email: alexander.reugels@uni-koeln.de
URL:
Affiliation: Reugels / Campos-Ortega Lab
Address: Institut für Entwicklungsbiologie Universität zu Köln Gyrhofstrasse 17 Köln, D-50923 Germany
Country:
Phone: 49-221-470-2618
Fax: 49-221-470-5164
ORCID ID:


BIOGRAPHY AND RESEARCH INTERESTS
Proper spatial and temporal specification of cells during development is crucial for the generation of cellular diversity in the nervous system of complex organisms. We are interested in the mechanisms underlying the establishment of cellular polarity and the generation of neuronal cell lineages during neurulation in Danio rerio. We were able to show that neurulation in zebrafish embryos is characterised by oriented cell divisions and the progressive establishment of cellular polarity. Mitoses in the neural plate and neural tube are planar, but in the neural keel/rod stage the mitotic spindle rotates by 90°, causing cell divisions to occur perpendicular to the plane of the neuroepithelium. However, the mechanisms and molecules that establish cellular polarity and cause the stereotypic orientation of the mitotic spindle during neurulation are still largely unknown. In order to address this topic, we are currently analyzing the putative cell fate determinant Numb and the role of the Par-3/Par-6/aPKC complex in setting up apicobasal polarity and specifying the orientation of the mitotic spindle. A major aspect of our work is the in vivo time-lapse imaging of GFP-tagged fusion proteins via confocal laser scanning microscopy.


PUBLICATIONS
Boggetti, B., Jasik, J., Takamiya, M., Strähle, U., Reugels, A.M., and Campos-Ortega, J.A. (2012) NBP, a zebrafish homolog of human Kank3, is a novel Numb interactor essential for epidermal integrity and neurulation. Developmental Biology. 365(1):164-174
Alexandre, P., Reugels, A.M., Barker, D., Blanc, E., and Clarke, J.D. (2010) Neurons derive from the more apical daughter in asymmetric divisions in the zebrafish neural tube. Nature Neuroscience. 13(6):673-679
Tawk, M., Araya, C., Lyons, D.A., Reugels, A.M., Girdler, G.C., Bayley, P.R., Hyde, D.R., Tada, M., and Clarke, J.D. (2007) A mirror-symmetric cell division that orchestrates neuroepithelial morphogenesis. Nature. 446(7137):797-800
von Trotha, J.W., Campos-Ortega, J.A., and Reugels, A.M. (2006) Apical localization of ASIP/PAR-3:EGFP in zebrafish neuroepithelial cells involves the oligomerization domain CR1, the PDZ domains, and the C-terminal portion of the protein. Developmental Dynamics : an official publication of the American Association of Anatomists. 235(4):967-977
Reugels, A.M., Boggetti, B., Scheer, N., and Campos-Ortega, J.A. (2006) Asymmetric localization of Numb:EGFP in dividing neuroepithelial cells during neurulation in Danio rerio. Developmental Dynamics : an official publication of the American Association of Anatomists. 235(4):934-948
Geldmacher-Voss, B., Reugels, A.M., Pauls, S., and Campos-Ortega, J.A. (2003) A 90° rotation of the mitotic spindle changes the orientation of mitoses of zebrafish neuroepithelial cells. Development (Cambridge, England). 130(16):3767-3780

NON-ZEBRAFISH PUBLICATIONS
Kurek, R., Reugels, A. M., Lammermann, U. & Bünemann, H. (2000)
Molecular Aspects of Intron Evolution in Dynein Encoding Mega-Genes on The Heterochromatic Y Chromosome of Drosophila sp.
Genetica 2000, 109 (1/2): 113-123

Reugels, A. M., Kurek, R., Lammermann, U. & Bünemann, H. (2000)
Mega-introns in the dynein gene DhDhc7(Y) on the heterochromatic Y chromosome give rise to the giant Threads loops in primary spermatocytes of Drosophila hydei.
Genetics 2000 Feb;154(2):759-69

Kurek, R., Reugels, A. M., Glätzer, K. H. & Bünemann, H. (1998)
The Y chromosomal fertility factor Threads in Drosophila hydei harbors a functional gene encoding an axonemal dynein ß heavy chain protein.
Genetics 1998 Jul;149(3):1363-76