# Diversity supplement for Courtney Tello

> **NIH NIH R01** · STATE UNIVERSITY NEW YORK STONY BROOK · 2021 · $5,707

## Abstract

Project Summary:
During the establishment of the vertebrate body, the head forms first and the rest of the body grows
progressively away from the head. A population of neuromesodermal progenitor cells (NMPs) located at the
posterior-most end of the embryo fuels this process of posterior growth. NMPs maintain germ-layer plasticity
after the end of gastrulation, and contribute to the growing spinal cord, somites, and blood vessels. NMPs are
critical cells required for the formation of the body, yet due to their late temporal role in embryogenesis and the
fact that they utilize many of the same genes and signals that are essential for gastrulation, they have been
extremely difficult to study. My laboratory has developed methods using the zebrafish embryo to manipulate
NMPs in vivo, using a combination of cell transplantation and temporal genetic manipulations. These methods
allowed us to determine the existence of zebrafish NMPs and to define some of the basic molecular properties
that facilitate their germ-layer decision between mesoderm and ectoderm. This proposal builds on our past
studies and will examine the molecular control of NMP maintenance and patterning. In Aim 1 we will use cell
transplantation of a new sox2 mutant zebrafish line and heat-shock inducible sox2 and Wnt signaling
transgenic lines to determine how Sox2 and Wnt signaling collaborate to maintain NMPs. In Aim 2, we will
determine how the Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) pathway acts as a morphogen to pattern the
mesodermal germ layer into distinct cell types. This aim will use new methods to precisely regulate the
intensity and duration of signaling pathway activation in individual transplanted cells. The results of our study
will help decipher some of the basic underpinnings of vertebrate body formation, and will provide essential
information regarding the use of stem cells for regenerative medicine.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10336185
- **Project number:** 3R01GM124282-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** STATE UNIVERSITY NEW YORK STONY BROOK
- **Principal Investigator:** Benjamin L Martin
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $5,707
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2018-07-05 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10336185

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10336185, Diversity supplement for Courtney Tello (3R01GM124282-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10336185. Licensed CC0.

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