Brian Ciruna

Dr. Brian Ciruna is Head and Senior Scientist of Development and Stem Cell Biology at the Research Institute of The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, and he is Professor at the University of Toronto. Prof. Ciruna’s research interest is about the molecular and genetic mechanisms that regulate the early embryonic development, while with a focus on the planar cell polarity (PCP) signalling pathway and its role in embryonic morphogenesis. Prof. Ciruna and his group are using the zebrafish as a model organism to investigate the fundamental mechanisms by which cell polarity is established, maintained and interpreted in the course of vertebrate embryonic development. By combining powerful live microscopic imaging capabilities with the genetic and embryological techniques afforded by zebrafish research, they are examining the dynamic regulation of PCP signalling at a sub-cellular level. Furthermore, they are employing forward genetic and candidate gene approaches to screen for novel regulators and modifiers of PCP signalling. They hope to gain insight into how regulation of cell polarity functions in normal development, and how aberrations in PCP signalling contribute to congenital malformations and disease. In a recent article in Jun 2020, Ciruna lab revealed conserved mechanisms (sspo mutants and Neuroinflammation) of Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) and also possible suppressors of sspo, bringing new insights to therapeutics for AIS.

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University of Toronto

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Embryonic development 0 Cell Polarity and Morphogenesis 0 Neurulation and Neural Tube Closure Defects 0 Zebra Fish as Model Organism 0

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  1. Rose CD, Pompili D, Henke K, et al. SCO-Spondin Defects and Neuroinflammation Are Conserved Mechanisms Driving Spinal Deformity across Genetic Models of Idiopathic Scoliosis. Curr Biol. 2020;30(12):2363-2373.e6. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2020.04.020

  2. Hengel H, Bosso-Lefèvre C, Grady G, et al. Loss-of-function mutations in UDP-Glucose 6-Dehydrogenase cause recessive developmental epileptic encephalopathy. Nat Commun. 2020;11(1):595. Published 2020 Jan 30. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-14360-7

  3. Konjikusic MJ, Yeetong P, Boswell CW, et al. Mutations in Kinesin family member 6 reveal specific role in ependymal cell ciliogenesis and human neurological development. PLoS Genet. 2018;14(11):e1007817. Published 2018 Nov 26. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1007817

  4. Jussila M, Ciruna B. Zebrafish models of non-canonical Wnt/planar cell polarity signalling: fishing for valuable insight into vertebrate polarized cell behavior. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Dev Biol. 2017;6(3):10.1002/wdev.267. doi:10.1002/wdev.267

  5. Boswell CW, Ciruna B. Understanding Idiopathic Scoliosis: A New Zebrafish School of Thought. Trends Genet. 2017;33(3):183-196. doi:10.1016/j.tig.2017.01.001

  6. Lau K, Tao H, Liu H, et al. Anisotropic stress orients remodelling of mammalian limb bud ectoderm. Nat Cell Biol. 2015;17(5):569-579. doi:10.1038/ncb3156


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