University of Pittsburgh Department of Cell Biology
    • Michael Tsang, Ph.D.

    Michael Tsang, Ph.D.

    Professor
    Director, Integrative Systems Biology (ISB) Graduate Program
    Tel: 412-648-3248
    Fax:
    Address: 5062 BST3
    3501 Fifth Avenue
    Pittsburgh, PA 15213
    tsang@pitt.edu

    Pubmed Collection

  • Research

    Research in Dr. Tsang’s lab has focused on the role of Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) signaling in zebrafish development. Dr. Tsang’s research previously identified and characterized a number of genes involved in modulating Ras/MAPK signaling. More recently, his lab has focused on chemical biology studies with the use of zebrafish for high throughput whole organism drug screens. For these studies, a transgenic zebrafish line was generated to detect active FGF signaling. Using this approach in a whole organism screen, BCI was identified as a small molecule inhibitor of Dual Specificity Phosphatase 6 (Dusp6), a protein involved in attenuating Ras/MAPK signaling. BCI was shown to be an allosteric inhibitor of Dusp6 and to enhance adult heart regeneration in zebrafish. 

    Another area of research in Dr. Tsang’s lab is using zebrafish as a model for human congenital heart disease and in understanding the early events that establish left-right patterning.

  • Publications

    1. Saydmohammed M, Yagi H, Calderon M, Clark MJ, Feinstein T, Sun M, Stolz DB, Watkins SC, Amack JD, Lo CW, Tsang M. Vertebrate myosin 1d regulates left-right organizer morphogenesis and laterality.. Nat Commun. 2018 Aug 23;9(1):3381. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-05866-2. PubMed PMID: 30139971;
    2. Missinato MA, Saydmohammed M, Zuppo DA, Rao KS, Opie GW, Kühn B, Tsang M. Dusp6 attenuates Ras/MAPK signaling to limit zebrafish heart regeneration.. Development. 2018 Mar 6;145(5):. doi: 10.1242/dev.157206. PubMed PMID: 29444893;
    3. Liu J, Hemphill J, Samanta S, Tsang M, Deiters A. Genetic Code Expansion in Zebrafish Embryos and Its Application to Optical Control of Cell Signaling.. J Am Chem Soc. 2017 Jul 12;139(27):9100-9103. doi: 10.1021/jacs.7b02145. PubMed PMID: 28657738;

     

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