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Abbie Jensen
Assistant Professor
ajensen@bio.umass.edu
Laboratory
Web Page
Education
B.A., University of California, San Diego, 1988
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1992
Postdoctoral
University College London, 1992-1996
University of Oregon, 1996-2002
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Research Interests
Our laboratory is studying the molecular and cellular mechanisms of
vertebrate retinal development and retinal disease.
Our efforts at understanding retinal development address two fundamental questions: (1) How
are different retinal cell types generated? (2) How are those cells organized into a
functional tissue? Early in development, the retina consists of a seemingly homogenous
population of multipotential progenitor cells. Later, this population generates many
different cell types that are organized into specific cell layers and finally functional
connections are made. We use zebrafish, which is a good model system for human retinal
development; they have the same cell types and cells are organized in the same way.
We are using genetics in zebrafish to identify genes that regulate the proliferation,
differentiation, survival, and organization of retinal cells.
The current focus of our lab is to understand the role of cell polarity in organization
of the retina during development, and how loss of polarity can lead to degenerative retinal
disease. We are examining the role of a novel gene we identified, called mosaic eyes (moe),
which plays a role in polarity. When this gene is mutated in zebrafish, the layers in the
retina fail to form even though all the cell types that normally comprise the retina are
present. We are using biochemistry and molecular and cell biological approaches to
understand how moe and other molecules involved in establishing cell polarity regulate
layer formation and cell polarity during development. We are also examining the role of
moe in photoreceptor morphogenesis and photoreceptor degeneration.
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Representative Publications
Jensen, A.M., Walker, C., and Westerfield, M. 2001. Mosaic eyes: a zebrafish gene
required in pigmented epithelium for apical localization of retinal cell divisions and
lamination. Development 128: 95-105.
Wallace, V.A. and A.M. Jensen. 1998. IBMX, taurine, and 9-cis retinoic acid act on
postmitotic cells to accelerate rod photoreceptor differentiation. Experimental Eye
Research 69: 617-27.
Jensen, A.M. and Raff, M.C. 1997. Continuous observation of multipotential retinal
progenitor cells in clonal density culture. Developmental Biology 188: 267-279.
Jensen, A.M. and Wallace, V. A. 1997. Expression of Sonic Hedgehog and its putative
role as a precursor cell mitogen in the developing mouse retina. Development 124: 363-371.
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