Lucien Weiss
Chemistry
Bio-X Bowes Fellow 2012/2013
Profs. W. E. Moerner (Chemistry) and Matthew Scott (Developmental Biology)

Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) signaling plays an important role in human development, particularly in determining the fate of stem cells and regulating cell division in some tissues. Defects in the signaling pathway can lead to serious birth defects and cancer. Despite its importance, the mechanism is not well understood. In this project, Lucien is using single-molecule imaging to characterize the motion and interactions of key proteins in the signaling pathway on the surface of live cells. This work will contribute to the understanding of how the SHH signal is received, transduced, and interpreted.