ZFIN Person: Lekven, Arne

ZFIN ID: ZDB-PERS-970430-23

ZFIN ID: ZDB-PERS-970430-23

Lekven, Arne

Email:	alekven@central.uh.edu
URL:	https://sites.google.com/nsm.uh.edu/lekvenlaboratory/home
Affiliation:	Lekven Lab
Address:	Department of Biology and Biochemistry University of Houston 3455 Cullen Blvd., Rm 421G SR2 Houston, TX. 77204-5001
Country:	United States
Phone:	713-743-7618
Fax:
ORCID ID:

BIOGRAPHY AND RESEARCH INTERESTS

The research focus of my lab is to investigate the role of the Wnt signaling pathway during embryogenesis. We are using a combination of genetic loss-of-function and morpholino knockdown approaches to understand how wnt ligands pattern embryonic tissues.

PUBLICATIONS

Tan, A.L., Mohanty, S., Guo, J., Lekven, A.C., Riley, B.B. (2022) Pax2a, Sp5a and Sp5l act downstream of Fgf and Wnt to coordinate sensory-neural patterning in the inner ear. Developmental Biology. 492:139-153

Chang-Gonzalez, A.C., Gibbs, H.C., Lekven, A.C., Yeh, A.T., Hwang, W. (2021) Building a three-dimensional model of early-stage zebrafish embryo brain. Biophysics reports. 1(1)

Green, D.G., Whitener, A.E., Mohanty, S., Mistretta, B., Gunaratne, P., Yeh, A.T., Lekven, A.C. (2020) Wnt signaling regulates neural plate patterning in distinct temporal phases with dynamic transcriptional outputs. Developmental Biology. 462(2):152-164

Lekven, A.C., Lilie, C.J., Gibbs, H.C., Green, D.G., Singh, A., Yeh, A.T. (2019) Analysis of the wnt1 regulatory chromosomal landscape. Development genes and evolution. 229(2-3):43-52

Kunkel, G.R., Tracy, J.A., Jalufka, F.L., Lekven, A.C. (2018) CHD8short, a naturally-occurring truncated form of a chromatin remodeler lacking the helicase domain, is a potent transcriptional coregulator. Gene. 641:303-309

Gibbs, H.C., Chang-Gonzalez, A., Hwang, W., Yeh, A.T., Lekven, A.C. (2017) Midbrain-Hindbrain Boundary Morphogenesis: At the Intersection of Wnt and Fgf Signaling. Frontiers in Neuroanatomy. 11:64

Gibbs, H.C., Dodson, C.R., Bai, Y., Lekven, A.C., Yeh, A.T. (2014) Combined lineage mapping and gene expression profiling of embryonic brain patterning using ultrashort pulse microscopy and image registration. Journal of Biomedical Optics. 19:126016

Wylie, A.D., Fleming, J.A., Whitener, A.E., and Lekven, A.C. (2014) Post-transcriptional regulation of wnt8a is essential to zebrafish axis development. Developmental Biology. 386(1):53-63

Narayanan, A., and Lekven, A.C. (2012) Biphasic wnt8a expression is achieved through interactions of multiple regulatory inputs. Developmental Dynamics : an official publication of the American Association of Anatomists. 241(6):1062-1075

Halbig, K.M., Lekven, A.C., and Kunkel, G.R. (2012) The transcriptional activator ZNF143 is essential for normal development in zebrafish. BMC Molecular Biology. 13(1):3

Narayanan, A., Thompson, S.A., Lee, J.J., and Lekven, A.C. (2011) A transgenic wnt8a:PAC reporter reveals biphasic regulation of vertebrate mesoderm development. Developmental Dynamics : an official publication of the American Association of Anatomists. 240(4):898-907

Baker, K.D., Ramel, M.C., and Lekven, A.C. (2010) A direct role for Wnt8 in ventrolateral mesoderm patterning. Developmental Dynamics : an official publication of the American Association of Anatomists. 239(11):2828-2836

Halbig, K.M., Lekven, A.C., and Kunkel, G.R. (2008) Zebrafish U6 small nuclear RNA gene promoters contain a SPH element in an unusual location. Gene. 421(1-2):89-94

Ramel, M.C., Buckles, G.R., Baker, K.D., and Lekven, A.C. (2005) WNT8 and BMP2B co-regulate non-axial mesoderm patterning during zebrafish gastrulation. Developmental Biology. 287(2):237-248

Ramel, M.C., Buckles, G.R., and Lekven, A.C. (2004) Conservation of structure and functional divergence of duplicated Wnt8s in pufferfish. Developmental Dynamics : an official publication of the American Association of Anatomists. 231(2):441-448

Riley, B.B., Chiang, M.Y., Storch, E.M., Heck, R., Buckles, G.R., and Lekven, A.C. (2004) Rhombomere boundaries are Wnt signaling centers that regulate metameric patterning in the zebrafish hindbrain. Developmental Dynamics : an official publication of the American Association of Anatomists. 231(2):278-291

Ramel, M.C., and Lekven, A.C. (2004) Repression of the vertebrate organizer by Wnt8 is mediated by Vent and Vox. Development (Cambridge, England). 131(16):3991-4000

Buckles, G.R., Thorpe, C.J., Ramel, M.C., and Lekven, A.C. (2004) Combinatorial Wnt control of zebrafish midbrain-hindbrain boundary formation. Mechanisms of Development. 121(5):437-447

Phillips, B.T., Storch, E.M., Lekven, A.C., and Riley, B.B. (2004) A direct role for Fgf but not Wnt in otic placode induction. Development (Cambridge, England). 131(4):923-931

Lekven, A.C., Buckles, G.R., Kostakis, N., and Moon, R.T. (2003) Wnt1 and wnt10b function redundantly at the zebrafish midbrain-hindbrain boundary. Developmental Biology. 254(2):172-187

Roman, B.L., Pham, V., Lawson, N.D., Kulik, M., Childs, S., Lekven, A.C., Garrity, D.M., Moon, R.T., Fishman, M.C., Lechleider, R.J., and Weinstein, B.M. (2002) Disruption of acvrl1 increases endothelial cell number in zebrafish cranial vessels. Development (Cambridge, England). 129(12):3009-3019

Lekven, A.C., Thorpe, C.J., Waxman, J.S., and Moon, R.T. (2001) Zebrafish wnt8 encodes two wnt8 proteins on a bicistronic transcript and is required for mesoderm and neurectoderm patterning. Developmental Cell. 1(1):103-114

Riley, B.B., Chiang, M.Y., Lekven, A.C., Moon, R.T. (2001) A signaling network required to maintain rhombomere boundaries as organizing centers in the zebrafish hindbrain. FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. 15(5):A742

Lekven, A.C., Helde, K.A., Thorpe, C.J., Rooke, R. and Moon, R.T. (2000) Reverse genetics in zebrafish. Physiological Genomics. 2:37-48

NON-ZEBRAFISH PUBLICATIONS
Haag TA, Haag NP, Lekven AC, Hartenstein V. The role of cell adhesion molecules in drosophila heart morphogenesis: faint sausage, Shotgun/DE-cadherin, and laminin A are required for discrete stages in heart development. Dev Biol 1999 Apr 1;208(1):56-69

Hartenstein V, Nassif C, Lekven A. Embryonic development of the Drosophila brain. II. Pattern of glial cells. J Comp Neurol 1998 Dec 7;402(1):32-47

Lekven AC, Tepass U, Keshmeshian M, Hartenstein V. faint sausage encodes a novel extracellular protein of the immunoglobulin
superfamily required for cell migration and the establishment of normal axonal pathways in the Drosophila nervous system.
Development 1998 Jul;125(14):2747-58

Hartenstein V, Younossi-Hartenstein A, Lekven A.
Delamination and division in the Drosophila neurectoderm: spatiotemporal pattern, cytoskeletal dynamics, and common control by neurogenic and segment polarity genes.
Dev Biol 1994 Oct;165(2):480-99