# Progenitor Regulation in Craniofacial Development and Regeneration

> **NIH NIH R35** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · 2022 · $1,055,563

## Abstract

Birth defects of the head and face are common in the human population. Skull injuries and joint disease, in
particular affecting the temporomandibular joint of the jaw, are a major economic and societal burden. This
proposal is to support the upward trajectory of a mid-career investigator, Dr. Gage Crump, who works at the
interface of craniofacial development and stem cell biology. Specifically, he has developed powerful new
zebrafish models of human craniofacial birth defects and disease, which are allowing him to unravel the
developmental causes of common craniofacial birth defects and, in a bold new direction, to understand
mechanisms of stimulating endogenous repair of the adult skull. Dr. Crump is Director of the PhD Program in
Development, Stem Cells, and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Southern California and a founding
member of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Stem Cell Research, a rapidly growing institute directed by Dr.
Andrew McMahon with exceptional core resources and recently recruited junior faculty. He is currently PI on
three R01's from NIDCR and has published featured articles in Developmental Cell, eLife, Development, and
PLoS Genetics on diverse topics ranging from craniofacial development to jawbone repair and arthritis of the
jaw. He has built up an exceptional research team, with several trainees receiving K99 and F31 fellowships
from NIDCR, as well as prestigious private fellowships. His previous trainees have gone on to tenure-track
faculty and industry positions, and postdocs in HHMI-funded labs. He also participates in local and national
efforts to recruit under-represented minority students into stem cell science from high school to graduate
levels. These efforts are reflected by a USC Mentoring Award to Dr. Crump in 2017. The research program
focuses on the roles of progenitor cells in building the facial skeleton and then maintaining and repairing it in
the adult. These studies exploit the unique genetic and imaging strengths of zebrafish, combined with its
impressive capabilities of natural regeneration as adults. The first program uses new gene editing technology
in zebrafish to analyse requirements for novel craniofacial patterning genes in progenitor regulation, as well as
to directly image progenitor lineage commitment using time-lapse microscopy. As exemplified by studies of
Jagged-Notch signaling from fish to man, efforts to validate zebrafish findings in mouse will be performed in
latter years. The second program investigates the stem cell-based maintenance of two types of joints, the
sutures of the skull and the synovial jaw joint. The third program builds on innovative models of bone, cartilage,
and joint regeneration in the adult zebrafish jaw, as well as a highly collaborative network of basic researchers
and clinicians at USC, to understand how different types of endogenous stem cells are activated to repair
craniofacial tissues. Completion of these studies will reveal commonalities and di...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10426306
- **Project number:** 5R35DE027550-06
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Gage D Crump
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $1,055,563
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-14 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10426306

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10426306, Progenitor Regulation in Craniofacial Development and Regeneration (5R35DE027550-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10426306. Licensed CC0.

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