Research | SAUNDERS LAB
Research in our laboratory is generally focused
on understanding the molecular basis of development. One of our
primary focuses is on understanding the role of heparan sulfate
proteoglycans in the control of cellular responses to components
of the extracellular space during development.
Heparan sulfate proteoglycans represent a unique class of
developmentally regulated glycoproteins which bind to and regulate
a wide range of extracellular proteins including growth factors
and their binding proteins, structural extracellular matrix
proteins, proteases, and protease inhibitors.
Glypican-3 encodes a cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycan
expressed widely during vertebrate development. Loss of function
mutations in the glypican-3 gene in humans causes Simpson Golabi
Behmel syndrome (SGBS), a disorder associated with both pre- and
postnatal overgrowth, a predisposition to certain childhood
cancers, and a complex assortment of congenital defects including
skeletal abnormalities.
Mice bearing a targeted deletion in the glypican-3 gene show
overgrowth and a similar pattern of malformation as do humans with
SGBS, and specifically appear to have defects in skeletal growth
and development resulting from defects in both BMP signaling and
the function of metalloproteinases in the extracellular space.
Understanding the molecular basis of these functions is another
primary focus of the laboratory.
Contact Information
Scott Saunders, M.D. Ph.D.
Washington University School of Medicine
Department of Pediatrics
660 South Euclid Ave.
Campus Box 8208
St. Louis, MO 63110
e-mail:
phone: 314-286-2850
FAX: 314-286-2893
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SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
