Welcome to the Taneyhill Lab

The Taneyhill lab studies the vertebrate neural crest, a transient population of migratory cells that ultimately differentiate to become a wide range of structures, including the peripheral nervous system, pigment cells, and the cranial bones and cartilage. Consequently, many human congenital and hereditary malformations (such as craniofacial abnormalities and heart defects), diseases and cancers result from aberrant neural crest development. Our lab uses molecular, cellular, and biochemical techniques to study neural crest formation in the chicken embryo to better understand overall animal growth and development.

Cadherin6B knock-down through the use of a morpholino (red) results in premature neural crest cell emigration and migration of cells away from the explanted dorsal neural folds (premigratory neural crest). Explants have been stained for phalloidin (green) and reveal extended actin-filled processes prominent in emigrating and migrating neural crest cells leaving the neural folds. DAPI (blue) marks cell nuclei.