# Interpreting and Deploying Genomic Information During Animal Development

> **NIH NIH R35** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2021 · $630,577

## Abstract

Summary
The long term goal of this project is to understand how members of large transcription factor
families, which share a DNA binding domain and typically have very similar DNA binding
specificities, execute highly specific functions in vivo. The primary focus of this proposal is on
the Hox family of homeodomain transcription factors, which play critical roles during animal
embryogenesis, organ development, and appendage specification in both vertebrates and
invertebrates. When these transcription factors mis-regulate their target genes, either due to
mutations in their protein-coding sequences or in their target DNA binding sites, developmental
defects and many human diseases, from cancer to diabetes, can result. For the next funding
period this project will bridge the gap between understanding how these factors specifically
recognize their binding sites in vitro, often in conjunction with cofactors, and how they execute
their specific functions in vivo. This will be accomplished using whole genome approaches with
tagged and mutant Hox factors and by visualizing these proteins and their binding sites in living
cells. Additional efforts will be to identify and characterize newly discovered novel cofactors and
mechanisms, such as post-translational modifications of Hox proteins, that can alter their DNA
binding specificities and/or transcriptional regulatory activities in vivo. In all cases, these
experiments will be grounded in identifying and understanding how Hox proteins regulate their
bona fide target genes, which allow them to orchestrate entire developmental programs, such
as the development of legs and wings.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10170944
- **Project number:** 2R35GM118336-06
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** RICHARD S MANN
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $630,577
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2016-05-03 → 2026-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10170944

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10170944, Interpreting and Deploying Genomic Information During Animal Development (2R35GM118336-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10170944. Licensed CC0.

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