Nascone-Yoder, Nanette, PhD
Assistant Professor

Ph.D., Harvard University, 1997
Assistant Professor, Eckerd College, 1997, tenured 2003
Associate Professor, Eckerd College, 2004

Phone: (919) 513-6229
Fax: (919) 513-7301
E-mail: Nanette_Nascone-Yoder@ncsu.edu

Research Interest:

Intestinal malrotation occurs in as many as 1 in 500 human births (0.2% of the population) and poses significant risk for life-threatening complications, such as volvulus, in neonates and children. Volvulus can also precipitate conditions requiring emergency intervention in animals, such as colic in horses and gastric dilation (bloat) in large breed dogs.

Normal digestive anatomy is a consequence of the dramatic elongation, left-right asymmetric "looping" and chiral rotation of the primitive gut tube during fetal development, but the cellular and molecular mechanisms
of these large-scale events in gut morphogenesis have not received much attention. In addition, no clear genetic inheritance pattern has been identified for intestinal malrotation, suggesting a multifactorial mode of inheritance involving environmental causes.

I am employing aquatic animal embryos and chemical genetic strategies (Chemical Genetics) to investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms of gut morphogenesis, in order to understand the genetic and epigenetic etiology of intestinal malrotation, and the effects of both natural environment cues and anthropogenic toxins on gut phenotypic plasticity and teratology (Ecological Developmental Biology and Ecotoxicology).

Selected Publications:

Nascone, N. and M. Mercola (1995) An inductive role for the endoderm in Xenopus cardiogenesis. Development, 121, 515-523.

Nascone, N. and M. Mercola (1996) Endoderm and cardiogenesis: new insights. Trends in Cardiovascular Medicine, 6, 211-216.

Nascone, N. and M. Mercola (1997) Organizer induction determines left-right asymmetry in Xenopus. Developmental Biology, 189, 68-78.

Levin, M. and N. Nascone (1997) Two molecular models of initial left-right asymmetry generation. Medical Hypotheses, 49, 429-435.

Smith, D., R.C. Grasty, C.J. Tabin, and N. Nascone-Yoder (2000) The evolutionary relationships between the amphibian, avian and mammalian stomachs. Evolution and Development 2 (6), 348-359.

Gormley, J.P. and N. Nascone-Yoder (2003) Left and right contributions to the Xenopus heart: implications for asymmetric morphogenesis. Development, Genes and Evolution, 213, 390-398.

Muller, J.K., Prather, D. and N. Nascone-Yoder (2003) left-right asymmetric morphogenesis in the Xenopus digestive system. Developmental Dynamics. 228(4):672-82.

Lipscomb, K.J., Sablyak, A.R., Schmitt, C.E., Yoder, J.A. and N. Nascone-Yoder (2005) A role for retinoid signaling in left-right asymmetric digestive organ morphogenesis. Submitted.

Lab Personnel

Mike Dush, Research Associate
mike_dush@ncsu.edu

Rachel Reed, Research Technician
rareed@ncsu.edu

Stephanie Bloom, graduate student 
skbloom@ncsu.edu



			    

 

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