Sumanas, Saulius

Our lab utilizes zebrafish as a model to study molecular mechanisms of vasculature formation and as well as the mechanisms that regulate the fate choices between the vascular endothelial, cardiac and hematopoietic cell lineages. We are investigating detailed mechanisms of endothelial cell formation, specification, differentiation and proliferation and identifying new genes participating in these processes. That includes making novel transgenic zebrafish lines, which will allow us to observe and study formation, migration and differentiation of endothelial progenitor cells in live zebrafish embryos. We are also dissecting transcriptional cascade which controls vasculature formation by utilizing microarray analysis combined with overexpression and gene knockdown studies. And finally, we are performing screens for novel potential regulators of vasculature formation followed by their characterization and functional studies.