The role of fetal ocular and breathing movements on cell differentiation and organ functional maturation

As a developmental biologist, I study the role of fetal movements in providing continuity between prenatal and postnatal life. There are two major categories of fetal motility. The first category consists of movements that have an obvious effect on the survival or development of the fetus (e.g., changes of position, sucking and swallowing). The second category consists of fetal movements that anticipate postnatal functions. For example, fetal ocular movements predict postnatal eye function (e.g., motion vision) of the newborn, while the fetal breathing-like movements predict postnatal lung function. Both categories of fetal motility are important indicators of fetal health. However, while the clinical significance of fetal motility is obvious, its biological significance is elusive. ) I propose to use retina and lung of genetically modified mouse embryos to study the biological role of fetal ocular and breathing movements in the genesis of cell diversity and organ functional maturation. Our results have already demonstrated the importance of fetal motility in differentiation of specific cell types in the retina and lung. ) In the current proposal, I suggest employing the unique opportunity provided by the mouse mutants to identify a group of candidate genes that are essential for the molecular regulation of retinal and lung development and in turn for their functional maturation. Subsequently, our goal is to study human fetal hypoplastic lung tissues in order to identify a marker for pulmonary hypoplasia and to establish a protocol for lung tissue engineering. ) I believe that the results of these studies will increase our understating of the particular aspects of cell differentiation and of the visual and respiratory system function, therefore increasing the knowledge in the field and helping in medical practices and applications, such as conditions characterized by inability of gaze stabilization and/or spatiotemporal interactions (e.g., as occurs while steering the car) or in pulmonary hypoplasia, an important cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality.