Matthew Scott
Academic Appointments
- Professor, Developmental Biology
- Professor, Genetics
- Member, Bio-X
- Member, Cancer Center
Professional Snapshot
Administrative Appointments
- Associate Chair, Developmental Biology (1999 - 2002)
- Chair, Developmental Biology (1996 - 1998)
- Co-Chair, Center for Children's Brain Tumors (2005 - present)
- Chair, Bio-X Program (2001 - 2007)
Professional Education
| Ph.D.: | M.I.T., Biology (1980) |
| B.S.: | M.I.T., Biology (1975) |
Postdoctoral Advisees
Graduate & Fellowship Program Affiliations
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Industry Relationships
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| Consulting: | Keker & Van Nest, LLP |
Scientific Focus
Current Research Interests
Early embryonic development is governed by an exquisite interplay of genes that organizes cells as they proliferate. Signals flow between cells to control their fates; information inherited by the cells influences their responses to the signals. Transcription factors necessary for forming particular parts of the body—such as head-to-tail differences, heart, eyes, or nervous system—have remained dedicated to those tasks through evolution. Similarly, the genes and proteins that code for signals, signal receptors, and information transfer within the cell have been preserved. We study evolutionarily conserved regulators in flies and in mice to learn how the embryo is constructed and how pattern-organizing genetic programs arose, function, and change. Genetic damage to developmental regulators can lead to cancer, birth defects, and neurodegeneration; we study all of these processes in the mammalian cerebellum.
The Hedgehog Signaling System in Development and Cancer
The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling system is used in most animals to control the embryonic development of numerous tissues, such as brain and spinal cord, limbs, skeleton, and skin. We have asked three questions about Hh signaling: (1) Where does the signal go from and to? (2) What information does it carry? (3) How is the signal received, transduced, and interpreted? Mutations in human PATCHED (PTCH) cause birth defects and medulloblastoma of the cerebellum, the most common childhood malignant brain tumor, and basal cell carcinoma of the skin, the most common human cancer. We are using mutant ptc mouse models to investigate how normal cerebellum cells become tumor cells. We are studying detailed mechanisms of Hh signal transduction including sterol effects. We are also investigating genetic control of normal cerebellum development in mice and zebrafish.
Molecular of the Niemann-Pick type C syndrome, a neurodegenerative disorder
Publications
- Planar Cell Polarity Enables Posterior Localization of Nodal Cilia and Left-Right Axis Determination during Mouse and Xenopus Embryogenesis. PLoS One. 2010; (2): e8999
- Lateral transport of Smoothened from the plasma membrane to the membrane of the cilium. J Cell Biol. 2009; (3): 365-74
- Manipulation of an innate escape response in Drosophila: photoexcitation of acj6 neurons induces the escape response. PLoS One. 2009; (4): e5100
- Rab35 controls actin bundling by recruiting fascin as an effector protein. Science. 2009; (5945): 1250-4
- Tail wags dog: primary cilia and tumorigenesis. Cancer Cell. 2009; (4): 276-7
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