# Mechanisms of pigment cell maturation and subtype specification during zebrafish stripe pattern formation

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA · 2022 · $37,144

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
There are numerous examples of self-assembled patterns in biology, but most research effort has focused on
only a few systems (syncytial patterning in Drosophila, adhesion-based sorting of heterogeneous cell
populations, gradient-induced specification of homogeneous populations). The goal of this proposal is to
identify molecular mechanisms that regulate pigment pattern formation in adult zebrafish. Adult zebrafish
pigment cells differentiate from neural crest-derived progenitors, and reciprocal interactions between pigment
cells are essential for stripe pattern formation. One class of pigment cells, iridescent iridophores, is responsible
for establishing and reiterating the pattern of dark stripes and light interstripes. Two iridophore subtypes occur
in zebrafish: “loose,” mesenchymal-like iridophores that associate with melanophores in dark stripes, and
“dense” epithelial-like iridophores of light interstripes that drive orange xanthophore differentiation within the
interstripes, while also setting the positions of adjacent stripes. The mechanisms that specify loose and dense
iridophore subtypes have not been determined. In this proposal, Aim 1 focuses on an innovative hypothesis to
account for subtype specification via interactions among iridophores, melanophores and the tissue
environment involving two candidate signaling pathways. Aim 2 addresses essential roles for a cell-
autonomous factor, identified by forward genetics, in promoting iridophore maturation and, thereby, the
essential interactions between iridophores and other pigment cells underlying pattern formation. Approaches
will range from classical genetic analysis to time-lapse imaging, and from gene expression analysis in situ to
single cell RNA-Sequencing. These studies will provide insights into iridophore differentiation and
morphogenesis that will augment our understanding of the genetic basis of cellular behaviors during the
dynamic self-assembly of tissue patterns.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10413822
- **Project number:** 5F31HD104398-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Raegan Rayfield Bostic
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $37,144
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-05-01 → 2023-08-02

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10413822

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10413822, Mechanisms of pigment cell maturation and subtype specification during zebrafish stripe pattern formation (5F31HD104398-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10413822. Licensed CC0.

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