# Mechanisms of early tracheal specification and morphogenesis

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2022 · $403,750

## Abstract

Project summary
Congenital anomalies of the trachea, including tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF), are common, affecting around
1:3000 live births. TEF is defined as the inappropriate maintenance of a connection between the trachea and
esophagus, and arises as a result of a failure of the complete separation of these structures from their common
origin, the foregut endoderm tube. Normally, induction of respiratory identity in the ventral foregut endoderm
and initiation of lung bud outgrowth is followed immediately by a morphogenetic separation of the ventral
trachea from the dorsal esophagus. Despite the common occurrence of TEF, our understanding of the
pathways that control this developmental process is incomplete, and almost no knowledge exists regarding the
molecular effectors of separation. Further, the cell biological mechanisms by which the trachea separates from
the esophagus are currently not known. Our proposal incorporates genome-wide approaches including RNA
sequencing and chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing, and integrates them with mouse genetics and
imaging approaches to better understand how control of tracheal cell fate specification is coupled to the cell
biological drivers of separation. This work will provide new insights into how early tracheal development is
regulated, improve our understanding of TEF, and provide a resource for future regenerative and tissue
engineering approaches that require a detailed understanding of early tracheal gene regulatory networks.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10369014
- **Project number:** 5R01HL144785-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** Jeffrey Ohmann Bush
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $403,750
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-03-06 → 2024-02-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10369014

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10369014, Mechanisms of early tracheal specification and morphogenesis (5R01HL144785-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10369014. Licensed CC0.

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