Mo Weng
Assistant Professor
Biography
Mo received a bachelor of medical sciences from Peking University Health Science center under the guidance of Dr. Tanjun Tong and a doctoral degree from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, supervised by Dr. Cheng-Yu Lee. Following graduate school, she was a postdoc fellow with Dr. Eric Wieschaus at Princeton University. She received a postdoc fellowship from NJCCR and NIH Pathway to Independence award (K99/R00). She joint UNLV in the school of Life Sciences in 2017.
Expertise
Quantitative live imaging, fly genetics, cell biology, development, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, cell adhesions, mechanobiology
Research
Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a fundamental process that converts a sheet of highly ordered epithelial cells into amorphic migratory mesenchymal cells. It is a millstone process during evolution and embryogenesis to generate cell diversity but is also a central process utilized by cancer cells to achieve malignancy. Research in the lab centered on the role of myosin-generated physical tension and related signaling pathways in the progression of EMT and its coordination with morphogenesis. Specific projects includes understanding the tension-dependent remodeling of cell-cell junctions and its impact on EMT, examining the role of conserved transcription factor Snail in regulating adhesion and EMT, exploring the roles of tension-responsive proteins during embryo development.
Additional Information
SEB Lab Location: 3154-3155
Lab Phone Number: 702-895-2558