Daniel Linzer, PhD

Professor of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Cell Biology

Dean of the Judd A. and Marjorie Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences

Research Interests
The research of Dan Linzer’s laboratory demonstrates that the development of the mammalian fetus within the mother requires that mammalian reproduction and development be tightly linked. Changes in maternal physiology must occur to accommodate and nurture the fetus.
The "master regulator" of these changes is the placenta, the major endocrine organ of pregnancy and the source of many pregnancy-specific hormones. Among these placental hormones are cytokines which Dr. Linzer’s laboratory has shown to be positive and negative regulators of angiogenesis, respectively, or regulators of hematopoiesis. Identification and characterization of these hormones not only reveal fundamental regulatory mechanisms in pregnancy and embryonic development, but also expose potentially novel receptors and signaling pathways. These hormones also provide markers for specific stages of placental development. The placenta is unique in the formation of intimate cell-cell contacts between genetically distinct (maternal and extra-embryonic) tissues, its rapid remodeling during pregnancy, and its transience. Proper development of the placenta is essential for embryonic development, for without the placenta the embryo would be unable to attach to the uterus, it would be unable to obtain nutrients and discard wastes, and it would be subject to attack by the maternal immune system. Furthermore, the placenta forms from the first cells to differentiate in the mammalian embryo, and characterization of how the placenta forms therefore offers the earliest window on cell fate decisions in mammalian development. Studies in his laboratory trace these developmental control pathways from the extracellular morphogens which act on placental trophoblasts all the way to the expression of specific target genes in the differentiated trophoblast lineages. Our studies utilize a variety of approaches, including analysis of the control of expression of specific genes and the use of mouse genetics (transgenic and mutant mice) to interrogate the function of specific gene products.