Jakub Famulski | University of Kentucky College of Arts & Sciences

Jakub Famulski

Associate Professor

Contact Information

jkfa226

213A T.H. Morgan Building

(859) 218-3540

Research Interests

Cell Migration
Microscopy
Developmental Cell Biology
Photoreceptors

Affiliations

Biology
Cell and Developmental Biology

Lab Website

Research

My background and training has focused on the application of live cell microscopy to study cell biology within the context of development. My current research focuses on the use of zebrafish to analyze the mechanisms of epithelial sheet fusion during retinal development. I use the developing retina as a model for epithelial cell fusion and study the congenital retinal disorder coloboma.

My research interests lie in understanding and observing dynamic morphogenetic processes occurring during vertebrate development. I focus on two general mechanisms known to occur throughout development and throughout the embryo: epithelial sheet fusion and mesenchymal cell migration. To study both of these events I have focused my research on examining retinal morphogenesis and periocular mesenchyme migration. To visualize these dynamic populations of cells I use the Danio rerio (zebrafish) model system. Zebrafish embryos are transparent and provide unparalleled in vivo tools for imaging single cells and populations within living tissues over time. In my lab we use cutting edge scanning confocal microscopy combined with novel molecular biology genome editing techniques to visualize individual cell populations during zebrafish retina morphogenesis.

Ultimately we hope to use the zebrafish to model human disease, primarily focusing on blinding disorders colobomata, cone-rod dystrophy and glaucoma.

Graduate Training

PDF. Developmental Neurobiology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, PDF. Developmental Neurobiology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, CANADA

Open Positions

Students interested in graduate studies should send their CV and a brief outline of interests to jakub.famulski@uky.edu

Selected Publications

Selected Publications:

Vöcking O, Famulski JK. Single cell transcriptome analyses of the developing zebrafish eye- perspectives and applications. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2023;11:1213382. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2023.1213382. eCollection 2023. Review. PubMed PMID: 37457291; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10346855.

Vöcking O, Famulski JK. A temporal single cell transcriptome atlas of zebrafish anterior segment development. Sci Rep. 2023 Apr 6;13(1):5656. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-32212-4. PubMed PMID: 37024546; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10079958.

Vöcking O, Van Der Meulen K, Patel MK, Famulski JK. Zebrafish anterior segment mesenchyme progenitors are defined by function of tfap2a but not sox10. Differentiation. 2023 Mar-Apr;130:32-42. doi: 10.1016/j.diff.2022.11.002. Epub 2022 Dec 9. PubMed PMID: 36563566; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10006344.

Sheppard MB, Smith JD, Bergmann LL, Famulski JK. Novel SMAD3 variant identified in a patient with familial aortopathy modeled using a zebrafish embryo assay. Front Cardiovasc Med. 2023;10:1103784. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2023.1103784. eCollection 2023. PubMed PMID: 36926042; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10011127.

Piedade WP, Famulski JK. E3 ubiquitin ligase-mediated regulation of vertebrate ocular development; new insights into the function of SIAH enzymes. Biochem Soc Trans. 2021 Feb 26;49(1):327-340. doi: 10.1042/BST20200613. Review. PubMed PMID: 33616626; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7924998.

Piedade WP, Titialii-Torres K, Morris AC, Famulski JK. Proteasome-Mediated Regulation of Cdhr1a by Siah1 Modulates Photoreceptor Development and Survival in Zebrafish. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2020;8:594290. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2020.594290. eCollection 2020. PubMed PMID: 33330480; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7719784.

Weaver ML, Piedade WP, Meshram NN, Famulski JK. Hyaloid vasculature and mmp2 activity play a role during optic fissure fusion in zebrafish. Sci Rep. 2020 Jun 23;10(1):10136. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-66451-6. PubMed PMID: 32576859; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7311462.

Van Der Meulen KL, Vöcking O, Weaver ML, Meshram NN, Famulski JK. Spatiotemporal Characterization of Anterior Segment Mesenchyme Heterogeneity During Zebrafish Ocular Anterior Segment Development. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2020;8:379. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2020.00379. eCollection 2020. PubMed PMID: 32528955; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7266958.

Carrara N, Weaver M, Piedade WP, Vöcking O, Famulski JK. Temporal characterization of optic fissure basement membrane composition suggests nidogen may be an initial target of remodeling. Dev Biol. 2019 Aug 1;452(1):43-54. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2019.04.012. Epub 2019 Apr 26. PubMed PMID: 31034836.

Pereira Piedade W, Veith S, Famulski JK. Ubiquitin-mediated proteasome degradation regulates optic fissure fusion. Biol Open. 2019 Jun 17;8(6). doi: 10.1242/bio.044974. PubMed PMID: 31189662; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6602337.

Hocking JC, Famulski JK, Yoon KH, Widen SA, Bernstein CS, Koch S, Weiss O, Agarwala S, Inbal A, Lehmann OJ, Waskiewicz AJ.Morphogenetic defects underlie Superior Coloboma, a newly identified closure disorder of the dorsal eye. PLoS Genet. 2018 Mar;14(3):e1007246. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1007246. eCollection 2018 Mar. PubMed PMID: 29522511; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5862500.

Moudgil DK, Westcott N, Famulski JK, Patel K, Macdonald D, Hang H, Chan GK. A novel role of farnesylation in targeting a mitotic checkpoint protein, human Spindly, to kinetochores. J Cell Biol. 2015 Mar 30;208(7):881-96. doi: 10.1083/jcb.201412085. PubMed PMID: 25825516; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4384735.

Qin L, Favis N, Famulski J, Evans DH. Evolution of and evolutionary relationships between extant vaccinia virus strains. J Virol. 2015 Feb;89(3):1809-24. doi: 10.1128/JVI.02797-14. Epub 2014 Nov 19. PubMed PMID: 25410873; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4300770.

Holly VL, Widen SA, Famulski JK, Waskiewicz AJ. Sfrp1a and Sfrp5 function as positive regulators of Wnt and BMP signaling during early retinal development. Dev Biol. 2014 Apr 15;388(2):192-204. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2014.01.012. Epub 2014 Jan 20. PubMed PMID: 24457098.

Pillay LM, Selland LG, Fleisch VC, Leighton PL, Cheng CS, Famulski JK, Ritzel RG, March LD, Wang H, Allison WT, Waskiewicz AJ.Evaluating the mutagenic activity of targeted endonucleases containing a Sharkey FokI cleavage domain variant in zebrafish. Zebrafish.2013 Sep;10(3):353-64. doi: 10.1089/zeb.2012.0832. Epub 2013 Jun 19. PubMed PMID: 23781947.

Pant SD, March LD, Famulski JK, French CR, Lehmann OJ, Waskiewicz AJ. Molecular mechanisms regulating ocular apoptosis in zebrafish gdf6a mutants. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2013 Aug 28;54(8):5871-9. doi: 10.1167/iovs.12-11315. PubMed PMID: 23847306.

Asai-Coakwell M, March L, Dai XH, Duval M, Lopez I, French CR, Famulski J, De Baere E, Francis PJ, Sundaresan P, Sauvé Y, Koenekoop RK, Berry FB, Allison WT, Waskiewicz AJ, Lehmann OJ. Contribution of growth differentiation factor 6-dependent cell survival to early-onset retinal dystrophies. Hum Mol Genet. 2013 Apr 1;22(7):1432-42. doi: 10.1093/hmg/dds560. Epub 2013 Jan 9. PubMed PMID: 23307924.

Famulski JK, Solecki DJ. New spin on an old transition: epithelial parallels in neuronal adhesion control. Trends Neurosci. 2013 Mar;36(3):163-73. doi: 10.1016/j.tins.2012.10.002. Epub 2012 Dec 11. Review. PubMed PMID: 23245691; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3594561.

Vos LJ, Famulski JK, Chan GK. hZwint-1 bridges the inner and outer kinetochore: identification of the kinetochore localization domain and the hZw10-interaction domain. Biochem J. 2011 May 15;436(1):157-68. doi: 10.1042/BJ20110137. PubMed PMID: 21345172.

Famulski JK, Vos LJ, Rattner JB, Chan GK. Dynein/Dynactin-mediated transport of kinetochore components off kinetochores and onto spindle poles induced by nordihydroguaiaretic acid. PLoS One. 2011 Jan 28;6(1):e16494. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0016494. PubMed PMID: 21305043; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3030593.

Famulski JK, Trivedi N, Howell D, Yang Y, Tong Y, Gilbertson R, Solecki DJ. Siah regulation of Pard3A controls neuronal cell adhesion during germinal zone exit. Science. 2010 Dec 24;330(6012):1834-8. doi: 10.1126/science.1198480. Epub 2010 Nov 25. PubMed PMID: 21109632; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3065828.

Kim S, Park SY, Yong H, Famulski JK, Chae S, Lee JH, Kang CM, Saya H, Chan GK, Cho H. HBV X protein targets hBubR1, which induces dysregulation of the mitotic checkpoint. Oncogene. 2008 May 29;27(24):3457-64. doi: 10.1038/sj.onc.1210998. Epub 2008 Jan 14. PubMed PMID: 18193091.

Famulski JK, Vos L, Sun X, Chan G. Stable hZW10 kinetochore residency, mediated by hZwint-1 interaction, is essential for the mitotic checkpoint. J Cell Biol. 2008 Feb 11;180(3):507-20. doi: 10.1083/jcb.200708021. PubMed PMID: 18268100; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2234252.

Famulski JK, Chan GK. Aurora B kinase-dependent recruitment of hZW10 and hROD to tensionless kinetochores. Curr Biol. 2007 Dec 18;17(24):2143-9. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.11.037. Epub 2007 Dec 6. PubMed PMID: 18065224.

Huang H, Feng J, Famulski J, Rattner JB, Liu ST, Kao GD, Muschel R, Chan GK, Yen TJ. Tripin/hSgo2 recruits MCAK to the inner centromere to correct defective kinetochore attachments. J Cell Biol. 2007 May 7;177(3):413-24. doi: 10.1083/jcb.200701122. PubMed PMID: 17485487; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2064832.

Vos LJ, Famulski JK, Chan GK. How to build a centromere: from centromeric and pericentromeric chromatin to kinetochore assembly.Biochem Cell Biol. 2006 Aug;84(4):619-39. doi: 10.1139/o06-078. Review. PubMed PMID: 16936833.