Dan
Linzer, PhD
Professor
Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Cell Biology
Dean of the Judd A. and Marjorie Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
To Contact Dr. Linzer:
phone: 847-491-3276
email: dlinzer@northwestern.edu
Dr. Linzer's website
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.