Key words: cellular/ molecular developmental genetics
I have approximately 20 years’ experience in academic scientific research using Drosophila melanogaster as a model system to study processes of cellular determination and differentiation. I am experienced with scientific project design and successful management of multiple undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral research projects.
I was trained as a PhD student at McMaster University by a cell biologist (Dr. Roger Jacobs) who was one of the first to characterise the neurons and glia comprising the entire embryonic central nervous system (CNS) of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster by serial electron microscopy. The visualization and characterization of these cell types in the Drosophila CNS opened the door for investigators to unravel the cellular and genetic basis of neural development in both invertebrates and vertebrates.
Using fruit flies as a genetically amenable model system, we investigated the ‘life’ of a small group of cells at the midline of the embryonic CNS. Our investigations, and those of others, provided fundamental insights into the evolutionary conservation of molecules regulating neural and glial development and their roles in axon guidance during embryogenesis.
I continued to study the regulation of gene expression during midline cell specification during my post-doctoral studies (Dept. Biophysics and Biochemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) and subsequently as a principal investigator in my own research program (Dept. Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa). My research projects included designing genetic screens and isolating mutations to successfully identify coregulators of gene regulatory networks controlling the specification and differentiation of cells governing embryonic axon guidance and tracheal tubule development. A significant portion of these studies involved analyses of mechanisms of cell-cell communication and signal transduction.
Publications (Peer-reviewed)
Christine Petersen and Margaret Sonnenfeld. “Skateboards, Roundabouts & Blood” – An Investigative Case Study of Human ABO Blood Types: Does a CSI Context Improve Learning and Engagement? Association for Biology Laboratory Education June 21-24 2022, Victoria, British Columbia. Abstract .
González YR, Kamkar F, Jafar-Nejad P, Wang S, Qu D, Alvarez LS, Hawari D, Sonnenfeld M, Slack RS, Albert PR, Park DS, Joselin A. 2023. PFTK1 kinase regulates axogenesis during development via RhoA activation. BMC Biol. Oct 31;21(1):240.
Morozova, T., Hackett, J., Sedaghat, Y. and Sonnenfeld, M. 2010. The Drosophilajing gene is a downstream target in the Trachealess/Tango tracheal pathway. Genes Development and Evolution, 220:191–206.
Sonnenfeld, M., Morozova, T., Hackett, J. and Sun, X. 2010. Drosophila jing is part of the breathless fibroblast growth factor receptor positive feedback loop. Genes Development and Evolution, 220:207–220.
Sun, X., Morozova, T. and Sonnenfeld, M.J. 2006. Glial and neuronal functions of the Drosophila homolog of the human SWI/SNF gene, ATR-X (DATR-X), and the jing zinc finger gene specify the lateral positioning of longitudinal glia and axons. Genetics, 173:1397–1415.
Sonnenfeld, M.J. 2009. Gal4/UAS Expression System. In: Marc D. Binder, Nobutaka Hirokawa, Uwe Windhorst (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Neuroscience, 1662-1666.
Sonnenfeld, M. J., Delvecchio, C., and Sun, X. 2005. Analysis of the transcriptional activation domain of the Drosophilatango bHLH-PAS transcription factor. Development Genes and Evolution, 215:221–229.
Sonnenfeld, M. J., Barazesh, N., Sedaghat, Y. and Fan, C. 2004. The jing and Egfr/ras1 pathways show a functional relationship during CNS midline and tracheal development. Mechanisms of Development, 121:1531–47.
Sedaghat, Y., Miranda, W. and Sonnenfeld, M. 2002. The jing Zn finger transcription factor is a mediator of cellular differentiation in the Drosophila CNS midline and trachea. Development, 129:2591–2606.
Sedaghat, Y. and Sonnenfeld, M. 2002. The rjing gene is required for embryonic brain development in Drosophila. Development Genes and Evolution, 212(6):277-87.
Emmons, R.B., Duncan, D., Estes, P., Kiefel, P., Mosher, J., 1999. Sonnenfeld, M.Ward, Duncan, I., Crews, S.T., The Spineless-Aristapedia and Tango bHLH-PAS proteins interact to control antennal and tarsal development in Drosophila. Development, 126:3937–3945.
Hu, S., Sonnenfeld, M., Crews, S.T., 1998. Midline Fasciclin: A Drosophila Fasciclin-I- related membrane protein localized to the CNS midline cells. Journal of Neurobiology, 35:77–93.
Sonnenfeld, M.J., Ward, M.P., Nystrom, J., Mosher, J., Stahl, S., Crews, S.T. 1997. The Drosophila tango gene encodes a bHLH-PAS protein that is orthologous to mammalian arnt and controls CNS midline and tracheal development. Development, 124:4571–4582.
Sonnenfeld, M.J., Jacobs, J.R., 1995. Apoptosis of midline glia during Drosophila embryogenesis: a correlation with axon contact. Development, 121:569–578.
Sonnenfeld, M.J., Jacobs, J.R. 1995. Macrophages and glia participate in the removal of apoptotic neurons from the Drosophila embryonic nervous system.
Sonnenfeld, M.J., Jacobs, J.R. 1994. Mesectodermal cell fate analysis in Drosophila midline mutants. Mechanisms of Development, 46:3-13.
Warner A.H., Sonnenfeld-Karcz M.J. 1992. Purification and partial characterization of thiol protease inhibitors from embryos of the brine shrimp Artemia. Biochemical Cell Biology, 70:1020-1029.
