Developmental Biology Summary

An important focus of the Developmental Biology Program at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is furthering our understanding of tissue and organ repair and regeneration, and has resulted to date in the follownig areas of therapeutic potential.

Bone Morphogenetic Proteins

Principal Investigator:  Dr. Wei Shi
Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP) are potent growth factors that are involved in many important developmental and disease processes, including some types of cancer.  A short peptide has been identified that can modulate BMP activity, and shows potential for controlling pathologies where BMP has a critical underlying role. 

Dr. Wei Shi, Investigator, Developmental Biology Program at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. Dr. Shi is an expert on TGFb family peptide-Smad signaling, BMP inhibitors and membrane sheddases in lung and cardiac morphogenesis and tissue injury and repair.

Abnormal Scar Formation

Principal Investigator:  Dr. Tai-Lan Tuan
Abnormal/excessive scar formation can be controlled by decreasing the deposition of collagen in a wound.  This can be achieved by inhibiting the activity of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1).  PAI-1 activity reduced by a range of direct and indirect PAI-1 inhibitors including neutralizing antibodies developed at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.  The IP is owned jointly by Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and UCLA.

Dr. Tai-Lan Tuan, Investigator, Developmental Biology Program at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.  Dr. Tuan is an internationally recognized authority on keloids, a severe form of hypertrophic skin wound healing.  She is an expert on the wound protease environment that forms the niche that determines the switch between perfect wound healing in the fetus versus keloids.