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Faculty Detail     Name CHENBEI CHANG   Campus Address MCLM 360 Zip 0005 Phone 205-975-7229 E-mail cchang@uab.edu Other websites

Faculty Appointment(s) Appointment Type Department Division Rank Primary  Cell, Developmntl, & Integrative Biology  Cell, Developmntl, & Integrative Biology Associate Professor Center  Center for Aging  Center for Aging Associate Professor Center  Center for Metabolic Bone Disease  Center for Metabolic Bone Disease Associate Professor Center  Civitan International Research Center  Civitan International Research Center Associate Professor Center  Comprehensive Cancer Center  Comprehensive Cancer Center Associate Professor

Graduate Biomedical Sciences Affiliations Cancer Biology  Cell, Molecular, & Developmental Biology  Cellular and Molecular Biology Program  Medical Scientist Training Program

Biographical Sketch  Dr. Chenbei Chang received her bachelor degree in Biology major from University of Science and Technology of China. She then conducted her Ph. D. research under the guidance of Dr. Jay Gralla in University of California at Los Angeles, working on mechanisms of eukaryotic transcription regulation. After obtaining her Ph. D. degree in 1994, she went to the Rockefeller University and became a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Ali H. Brivanlou. She investigated the functions of various signaling pathways during early vertebrate development. In 1998, she was promoted to Research Associate. She came to UAB as an Assistant Professor in 2001 and was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2007. Her current work focuses on the roles of growth factor signals and transcription factors in early vertebrate embryogenesis, using Xenopus laevis as the model system.

Society Memberships Organization Name Position Held Org Link American Association for the Advancement of Science      American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology      Chinese Biological Investigators society      Society for Developmental Biology

Research/Clinical Interest Title Growth Factor Signaling and Transcription Regulation in Vertebrate Development Description The research in Dr. Chang’s laboratory is focused on control of early vertebrate development by different growth factor signals. The model system used in the lab is the African clawed frog Xenopus laevis. The following research projects are currently ongoing in the lab. 1) Regulation of neural induction and patterning by TGF, FGF and Wnt signals. TGF (transformation growth factor beta) signals can be divided into two branches, those of TGF/Activin/Nodal and BMPs. We recently showed that both branches play important roles in inhibition of neural induction. Suppression of both Nodal and BMP signals is required for early neural development. The downstream nuclear factors that mediate TGF signals in neural formation have not been illustrated in detail, and the interplay between TGF and other signals, include those of FGF and Wnt, is not well understood. These issues will be further investigated in the lab. 2) Regulation of cell movements and morphogenesis by ErbB signaling pathway. During vertebrate development, cells undergo extensive rearrangement and movements to form proper tissue architecture. One major early cell movement event is gastrulation, in which mesoderm and endoderm move inside the embryos. We recently showed that ErbB signaling modulates cell movements during gastrulation. ErbBs seem to regulate cell adhesion to affect cell behaviors. The detailed mechanisms on how ErbB signaling affects cadherin-mediated of cell adhesion and regulates actin cytoskeleton reorganization will be studied in the lab. The cytoplasmic factors involved in mediating the effect of ErbB signaling on cell movements are also being investigated.

Selected Publications  Publication PUBMEDID Chang, C, Eggen, B., Weinstein, D. and Brivanlou, A. H. (2003). Regulation of nodal and BMP signaling by tomoregulin-1 (X7365) through novel mechanisms. Dev. Biol. 255: 1-11.  12618130  Altman, C.*, Chang, C.*, Munoz-Sanjuan, I., Bell, E., Heke, M., Rifkin, D. B. and Brivanlou, A. H. (2002). The latent-TGFb-Binding-Protein-1 (LTBP-1) is expressed in the organizer and regulates nodal and activin signaling. Dev. Biol. 248: 118-127.  12142025  Chang, C., Holtzman, D. A., Chau, S., Chickering, T., Woolf, E. A., Holmgren, L. M., Gearing, D. P. and Hemmati-Brivanlou, A. (2001). Twisted gastrulation can function as a BMP antagonist. Nature 410: 483-487.  11260717  Zhang, Y., Chang, C., Gehling, G. L., Hemmati-Brivanlou, A. and Derynck, R. (2001) Regulation of Smad degradation and activity by Smurf2, a novel E3 ubiquitin ligase. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 98: 974-979.  11158580  Chang, C. and Hemmati-Brivanlou, A. (2000). A post-mid-blastula transition requirement for TGFb signaling in early endodermal specification. Mech. Dev. 90: 227-235.  10640706  Chang, C. and Hemmati-Brivanlou, A. (1999). Xenopus GDF6, a new antagonist of noggin and a partner of BMP. Development 126: 3347-3357.  10393114  Chang, C. and Hemmati-Brivanlou, A. (1998). Cell fate determination in embryonic ectoderm. J. Neurobiol. 36: 128-151.  9712300  Chang, C. and Hemmati-Brivanlou, A. (1998). Neural crest induction by Xwnt7B in Xenopus. Dev. Biol. 194: 129-134.  9473337  Suzuki, A., Chang, C., Yingling, J. M., Wang, X.-F. and Hemmati-Brivanlou, A. (1997). Smad5 induces ventral fates in Xenopus Embryo. Dev. Biol. 184: 402-405.  9133445  Chang, C., Wilson, P. A., Mathews, L. S. and Hemmati-Brivanlou, A. (1997). A Xenopus type I activin receptor mediates mesodermal but not neural specification during embryogenesis. Development 124: 827-837.  9043064  First Prev   1 2 3 of  3  Next Last

Keywords TGF-beta, neural induction, BMP, ErbB, gastrulation, cell movement

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