Jennifer Gutzman
gutzman@uwm.eduLapham Hall N515,

Jennifer Gutzman

Associate Professor
Biological Sciences

Education

  • Post-doctoral Fellow/Associate, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, 2004-2011
  • PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Molecular and Environmental Toxicology, 2004
  • BS, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Biology, 1998

Lab Website

https://people.uwm.edu/gutzman

Research Interests

My laboratory applies genetic, developmental, molecular, and cell biological approaches to study brain morphogenesis and myh9-related disease in the developing embryo using zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a model system.

Embryonic brain shape is highly conserved across vertebrate species indicating the unique and essential requirement of a shape-function relationship in early brain development. After neural tube formation and specification of different brain regions, the developing vertebrate brain bends multiple times to subdivide regions and pack itself into the skull. Abnormal brain shape is associated with birth defects including neural tube defects and hydrocephalus, and changes in cell shape are the basis for the process of embryonic morphogenesis. We are investigating the molecular mechanisms that regulate specific cell shape changes during the formation of the midbrain-hindbrain boundary.

Myh9-related disease encompasses a large spectrum of disorders all associated with mutations in myh9 which encodes for non-muscle myosin IIA. Symptoms of myh9-related disease vary from hematological conditions and kidney problems to deafness and cataracts. Despite a well-supported role for non-muscle myosin IIA in hearing, its mechanisms of action and precise function in the ear is unknown. Therefore, the focus of our myh9-related disease project is to understand the role of non-muscle myosin IIA in development and function of the ear.

Selected Publications

Sahu, S U., Visetsouk, M R., Garde, R J., Hennes, L, Kwas, C, and Gutzman, Jennifer H.“Calcium signals drive cell shape changes during zebrafish midbrain-hindbrain boundary formation” Molecular biology of the cell28.7 (2017): 875-882.
Gutzman, Jennifer H., Sahu, S U., and Kwas, C. “Non-muscle myosin IIA and IIB differentially regulate cell shape changes during zebrafish brain morphogenesis” Developmental biology397.1 (2015): 103-15.
De Rienzo, G, Gutzman, Jennifer H., and Sive, H. “Efficient shRNA-mediated inhibition of gene expression in zebrafish” Zebrafish9.3 (2012): 97-107.
Backer, C B., Gutzman, Jennifer H., Pearson, C G., and Cheeseman, I M.“CSAP localizes to polyglutamylated microtubules and promotes proper cilia function and zebrafish development” Molecular biology of the cell23.11 (2012): 2122-30.
Glazer, A M., Wilkinson, A W., Backer, C B., Lapan, S W., Gutzman, Jennifer H., Cheeseman, I M., and Reddien, P W.“The Zn finger protein Iguana impacts Hedgehog signaling by promoting ciliogenesis” Developmental biology337.1 (2010): 148-56.
Gutzman, Jennifer H., and Sive, H. “Epithelial relaxation mediated by the myosin phosphatase regulator Mypt1 is required for brain ventricle lumen expansion and hindbrain morphogenesis” Development (Cambridge, England)137.5 (2010): 795-804.
Lowery, L A., De Rienzo, G, Gutzman, Jennifer H., and Sive, H. “Characterization and classification of zebrafish brain morphology mutants” Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007)292.1 (2009): 94-106.
Gutzman, Jennifer H., and Sive, H. “Zebrafish brain ventricle injection” Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE26. (2009).
Gutzman, Jennifer H., Graeden, E G., Lowery, L A., Holley, H S., and Sive, H. “Formation of the zebrafish midbrain-hindbrain boundary constriction requires laminin-dependent basal constriction” Mechanisms of development125.11-12 (2008): 974-83.