Susan V. Bryant

Professor
School of Biological Sciences
Vice Chancellor for Research

B.S., University of London, 1964
Ph.D., University of London, 1967

Phone: (949) 824-5796
Fax: (949) 824-2095
Email: svbryant@uci.edu

University of California
Office of Research
155 Administration
Mail Code: 3175
Irvine, CA 92697

 

Biography

Research Interests
Regeneration, stem cells, wound healing, growth, pattern formation, limb development, limb regeneration.     

Academic Distinctions
Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science; Fellow, Association for Women in Science; Member, Independent Citizens Oversight Committee (ICOC) for the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); Member, NSF Directorate Biological Sciences Advisory Committee(BIOAC); Council member, California Council on Science and Technology (CCST)     

Research Abstract

Alone among vertebrates, urodele amphibians are able to regenerate lost body parts as adults. The key to this ability is that limb cells are triggered to dedifferentiate and reinitiate growth and pattern formation. Our strategy is to use axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum) to discover the signals that trigger the regeneration response, in the belief that these signals have enormous potential and consequences for human health. Our long term goals are to identify the regeneration-enabling signals in limbs, in order to support progress towards the eventual application of these molecules to the improvement of human repair mechanisms. In current research, we are using assays derived from the extensive experimental history of regenerating limbs, to test the roles of several signaling molecules known to be essential for limb development. These assays are designed to examine the signals that initiate regeneration, those that are needed to establish a blastema, as well as those that are required for intercalary growth between the new limb tip and the amputation plane. In addition, we are taking a genomics approach to the isolation of genes needed for regeneration. A library of arrayed cDNAs made from limbs at different stages of regeneration will be screened with stage specific probes to identify genes expressed at different times in regeneration. We are especially interested in any novel factors that might be involved in transforming the differentiated limb stump into a blastema. The tools and knowledge are in place to attack complex systems, and understanding regeneration is likely to lead to new approaches and therapies for replacing or repairing lost, damaged or diseased parts of the body.     

Publications (From more than 100)

• Gardiner, D.M. and Susan V. Bryant (2006). Limb Regeneration. in “Fins into Limbs”, Brian Hall (ed.). Univ. Chicago Press. Chicago.
• Putta, S., Smith, J.J., Walker, J., Rondet, M., Weisrock, D.W., Monaghan, J., Samuels, A.K., Kump, K., King, D.C., Maness, N.J., Habermann, B., Tanaka, E., Bryant, S.V., Gardiner, D.M., Parichy, D.M. and Voss, S.R. (2004). From Biomedicine to Natural History Research: Expressed Sequence Tag Resources for Ambystomatid Salamanders. BMC Genomics 5:54-70.      
• Endo, T., Bryant, S.V., and Gardiner, D.M. (2004). A stepwise model system for limb regeneration. (2004). Dev. Biol. 270:135-145.      
• Bryant, S.V., Endo, T, and Gardiner, D.M.(2002) Vertebrate limb regeneration and the origin of limb stem cells. IJDB. 46:887-896
• Gardiner, D.M., Endo, T. and Bryant, S.V. (2002). The molecular basis of amphibian limb regeneration: Integrating the old with the new. Sem. Cell Dev. Biol. 13:345-352.      
• Carlson, M.R.J., Komine, Y., Bryant, S. V. and Gardiner, D. M (2001). Expression of Hoxb13 and Hoxc10 in Developing and Regenerating Axolotl Limbs and Tails, Dev Biol, 229, 396-406       
• Roy, S., Gardiner, D.M. and Bryant, S.V. (2000) Vaccinia as a Tool for Functional Analysis in Regenerating Limbs: Ectopic Expression of Shh. Dev Biol. 218, 199-205      
• Torok, M.A., Gardiner, D. M., Izpisua-Belmonte, J-C., and Bryant, S.V. (1999) Analysis of Sonic hedgehog expression in developing and regenerating axolotl limbs. J.exp Zool. 284, 197-206.      
• Torok, M.A., Gardiner, D.M., Shubin, N.H., Bryant, S.V. (1998) Regulation of HoxD expression in developing and regenerating axolotl limbs. Dev. Biol. 200, 225-233      
• Mullen, L., Torok, M. A., Bryant, S. V. and Gardiner, D. M. (1996). Nerve dependency of regeneration: Role of Dlx and FGF signalling in amphibian limb regeneration Development, 122, 3487-97.      
• Gardiner, D. M., Blumberg, B., Komine, Y. and Bryant, S. V. (1995). Regulation of HoxA expression in developing and regenerating axolotl limbs. Development, 121, 1731-1741
• Bryant, S. V. and Gardiner, D. M. (1992). Retinoic acid, local cell-cell interactions, and pattern formation in vertebrate limbs. Dev. Biol. 152, 1-25.       
• Bryant, S., French, V. and Bryant, P. (1981). Distal regeneration and symmetry. Science 212, 993-1002.
• French, V., Bryant, P.J. and Bryant, S.V. (1976). Pattern regulation in epimorphic fields. Science 193, 969-981.     

Grants

• US Army SBIR - "The Induction of Accessory Limbs as a Model System for Human Regeneration"    
• DARPA, US Department of Defense, "Digit Regeneration in Mammals"     

Professional Societies

• Society for Developmental Biology
• American Society for Cell Biology
• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Association for Women in Science

Other Experience
Dean, School of Biological Sciences
UC Irvine 2000—2006

Chair, Department of Developmental and Cell Biology
UC Irvine 1995—1997

Assistant Vice Chancellor for Plans and Programs
UC Irvine 1973—1975

Program Director
Developmental Biology, National Science Foundation 1981—1982

Principal Investigator
NSF ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Award 2001—2006

Research Centers
Developmental Biology Center     
Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center

 

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