Why mice don’t have webbed feet
Removal of interdigital webbing during embryonic development is one of the best known examples of developmental apoptosis. How this process occurs however is still a mystery. We have undertaken a genetic analysis aimed at understanding the basis of this phenomenon.
Research interests
Dr Bouillet joined the Molecular Genetics of Cancer Division in 1997 and has used genetic approaches to study the physiological role of members of the Bcl-2 family in the regulation of apoptosis. Genetic ablation of the Bim gene in mice has shown the role of this protein in the maintenance of homeostasis in the hematopoietic system, in the elimination of autoreactive thymocytes and B cells. He later showed that loss of Bim could prevent all the degenerative diseases that develop in Bcl-2 knockout animals, a model that he used to show that transgenic RNA interference could be used in vivo to prevent the development of the polycystic kidney disease that develops in the absence of Bcl-2. The bim gene was also shown to have important role in the termination of immune responses.
Dr Bouillet is presently developing mouse models in which subtle mutations are introduced into genes of the Bcl-2 family to study certain aspects of their regulation and their functional interactions.