People Faculty

Lance Davidson

Assistant Professor
PhD Biophysics, University of California-Berkeley.

E-mail: Phone: 412-383-5820 Office: BST3 5059 Web site: http://www.engr.pitt.edu/ldavidson/

Overview

Dr. Davidson, whose Ph.D. in biophysics is from the University of California at Berkeley, works on the interfaces between engineering, physics, and biology. His lab in the new Biomedical Science Tower 3 (BST3) building has allowed him to work even more closely with engineers and biologists to integrate molecular genetic details of morphogenesis with cellular and tissue mechanics, with the aim of helping design better artificial tissues and identifying the mechanical sources of birth defects.

Research

To integrate the biomechanics of morphogenesis across a number of size scales from subcellular generation of forces to the macroscopic forces and bulk tissue properties that guide development of the developing embryo. We want to understand, in mechanical terms, how coordinated polarized cell protrusions generate force, and how these forces are converted into tissue-scale movements.

Awards

January 2006: Named to "Faculty of 1000 – Biology"

January 2006: Named Associate Editor to "Cell Communication and Adhesion", ed. Cecilia Lo.

July 2009 National Science Foundation CAREER Award.

Courses

Undergraduate: Introduction to Cell Biology I & II (Bioe 1070/1071).
Graduate: Forces that Shape Organs (Bioe 3600).

Selected Publications

• S. D. Joshi, M. von Dassow, and L. A. Davidson (submitted). Experimental control of physically excitable embryonic tissues: three stimuli induce rapid epithelial contraction.
• L. A. Davidson, S. D. Joshi, H. Y. Kim, M. von Dassow, L. Zhang, and J. Zhou (submitted). Emergent morphogenesis: elastic mechanics of a self-deforming tissue.
• L. A. Davidson, M. von Dassow, and J. Zhou (in press). Multi-scale mechanics from molecules to morphogenesis. International Journal of Biochemistry and Cell Biology.
• J. Zhou, H. Y. Kim, and L. A. Davidson (2009). Actomyosin stiffens the vertebrate embryo during critical stages of elongation and neural tube closure. Development 136: 677-688.(article featured by Thomas Lecuit in Faculty of 1000 and rated 6.0, a "Must Read")
• M. von Dassow and L. A. Davidson (2009). Natural variation in embryo mechanics: gastrulation in Xenopus laevis is highly robust to variation in tissue stiffness. Developmental Dynamics 238: 2-18. (article featured in May 2009 Dev. Dyn. "Highlights" section)
• L. A. Davidson, B. D. Dzamba, R. Keller, and D. W. DeSimone (2008). Live imaging of cell protrusive activity, and extracellular matrix assembly and remodeling during morphogenesis in the frog, Xenopus laevis. Developmental Dynamics 237: 2684-2692.
• T. Rozario, B. Dzamba, G. F. Weber, L. A. Davidson, and D. W. DeSimone (2008) The physical state of fibronectin matrix differentially regulates morphogenetic movements in vivo. Developmental Biology 327:386-98.
• L. A. Davidson (2008). Apoptosis turbocharges epithelial morphogenesis. Science 321: 1641-2.
• L. A. Davidson (2008). Taming the tiger of tissue aggregation: How epithelia control structural assembly of underlying cells. Developmental Cell 14: 152-154.
• M. von Dassow and L. A. Davidson (2008). Variation and robustness of the mechanics of gastrulation: the role of tissue mechanical properties during morphogenesis. Birth Defects Research Part C: Embryo Today. 81: 253-269.
• K. Koide, F. Song, E.D. de Groh, A.L. Garner, V.D. Mitchell, L.A. Davidson, and N.A. Hukriede (2007) Scalable and concise synthesis of water-soluble dichlorofluorescein derivatives displaying tissue permeability in live zebrafish embryos. ChemBioChem 9:214-8
• L. A. Davidson (2007). Integrating morphogenesis with underlying mechanics and cell biology. Current Topics in Developmental Biology. 81:113-33
• J. B. A. Green and L. A. Davidson (2007). Convergent extension and the hexahedral cell. Nature Cell Biology, 9:1010-1015. (paper featured in editorial commentary p.983 of same issue)
• D. W. DeSimone, B. Dzamba, and L. A. Davidson (2007). Using Xenopus embryos to investigate integrin function. Chapter in Methods in Enzymology. Vol. 426. (ed. by David Cheresh)
• L. A. Davidson and R. E. Keller (2007). Measuring mechanical properties of embryos and embryonic tissues. Chapter in Methods in Cell Biology: Cell Mechanics vol. 83 (ed. by Y.-L. Wang and D. E. Discher).
• L. B. Bensenor, H.-M. Kan, N. Wang, H. Wallrabe, L. A. Davidson, Y. Cai, D. A. Schafer, and G. S. Bloom (2007). IQGAP1 Regulates Cell Motility by Linking Growth Factor Signaling to Actin Assembly. Journal of Cell Science, 120: 658-669.
• J. Stubbs, L. Davidson, R. Keller, and C. Kintner (2006). Radial intercalation of ciliated cells during Xenopus skin development. Development, 133: 2507-15.
• L. A. Davidson, M. Marsden, R. Keller, and D.W. DeSimone (2006). Integrin alpha5 beta1 and fibronectin regulate polarized cell protrusions required for Xenopus convergence and extension. Current Biology, 16: 833-844.
• Davidson, L.A., and Wallingford, J.B. (2005). Visualizing morphogenesis in the frog embryo. Chapter in Imaging in Neuroscience and Development: a Laboratory Manual. (ed. by R. Yuste and A. Konnerth), Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, NY.
• T. Goto*, L. A. Davidson*, and R. E. Keller (2005). Planar cell polarity genes regulate polarized extracellular matrix deposition during frog gastrulation. Current Biology, 15(8): 787–793. (* equal contributions) (See commentary on paper by J.B. Wallingford, 2005, Vertebrate gastrulation: polarity genes control the matrix. Current Biology, 15(11):R414–416)
• L. A. Davidson, R. Keller, and D. W. DeSimone (2004). Assembly and remodeling of fibrillar fibronectin extracellular matrix during gastrulation and neurulation in Xenopus laevis. Developmental Dynamics, 231: 888–95.
• L. A. Davidson, R. Keller, and D. W. DeSimone (2004). Patterning and tissue movements in a novel explant of the marginal zone of Xenopus laevis. Gene Expression Patterns in Mechanisms of Development, 4: 457–466.