Shunji Jia

The Jia laboratory is interested in understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms of embryonic development and organogenesis, especially the circulation system formation. We use zebrafish as the major model system, which is an excellent vertebrate model due to its external and rapid development, optical transparency, convenience for live-cell imaging, and amenability for chemical and forward genetic screens. Additionally, we also use cultured cell lines and mouse model to explore the conserved mechanisms in mammalian systems.

 

As the vital membrane components, phospholipid molecules have been reported to be important for the proper functioning of the nervous, digestive, skeletal, as well as alveolar systems. However, whether phospholipid molecules have more essential roles in embryonic development and organogenesis needs further investigation. We found that endosomal phosphoinositide conversion regulated by PITP family member Sec14l2/Sec14l3 is required for endosome fission, and therefore VEGFR2 trafficking to promote vasculogenesis in zebrafish (Nat Commun, 2019; Nat Cell Biol, 2021). Next, we will focus on the cellular functions of phospholipid molecules by exploring their specific distribution and dynamic conversion in different membrane structures, and finally their possible roles in embryonic development and organogenesis.

 

Given the importance of lymphatic vasculature in immune responses, tumor metastasis, lymphedema and many other pathological conditions, the long-term goal of our research is to understand the molecular mechanisms of the lymphatic development. Along with the successful discoveries that zebrafish lymphatic system shares many of the morphological, molecular and functional characteristics of lymphatic vessels in mammals, and the generation of transgenic reporter lines as powerful tools for imaging and studying lymphatic development in vivo, using zebrafish to study lymphatic vasculature becomes a reality in recent years. Furthermore, based on the establishment of several lymphatic and complex vascular disease models using zebrafish, we will also make efforts to conduct a whole-organism, phenotype-based, small molecule screening. Our research findings will be likely to provide more treatment clues for human lymphatic and complex vascular diseases.