Professor Kim DaleFRSB

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Contact

Email

[email protected]

Phone

+44 (0)1382 383171

Biography

Professor Kim Dale is the Interim Vice-Principal (International) for the University of Dundee. Kim sets the Global strategy for the University and co-ordinates the activity of the Academic Regional Leads across the Institution. Kim has been instrumental in establishing research and teaching partnerships overseas with partner institutions in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, China, Netherlands, USA, at the undergraduate and postgraduate level. These partnerships include articulations, dual and joint degrees, validated degrees and forming partnerships with government funded sponsorship bodies in a wide variety of disciplines including her own discipline of Life Sciences. Kim is a guest professor at Taylors University in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. Kim is chair of the University Humanitarian oversight board and the University International scholarship committee. From 2016 until May 2024, Kim was Associate Dean International for the School of Life Sciences. From 2017 until September 2021, Kim was the University Academic Regional Lead in South East Asia. From September 2021 until February 2025, Kim was the Assistant Vice-Principal (International).

Kim did undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in England and she was a postdoctoral researcher in France and the USA before coming to Dundee to establish her own research group in 2005 as a Royal Society University Research Fellow. Kim is now Professor of Molecular Developmental Biology and is an internationally renowned leading scientist in the role and regulation of the Notch signalling pathway which plays essential roles during vertebrate development and which also underlies many diseases. Kim is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.

 

Declared Interests

Declared Interests Declaration
Start date on Court 1 August 2024
Employment Employee of University of Dundee.
Principal Investigator.
University Assistant Vice Principal International
Professor of Molecular Developmental Biology.
Directorships Guest Professor at Taylors University in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.
Other pecuniary interests None
Any other disclosure None
Related parties None
Register last updated 2024

Research

The broad interest of the laboratory aims to further our understanding of how several genetic interactions come into play at the earliest stages of development to build the developing embryo.

Segmentation is a universal feature of the body plan of all vertebrate species. This is most clearly seen in the vertebrate axial skeleton which is comprised of a series of segments, namely the ribs and articulating vertebrae. In vertebrate species the process of segmentation begins with the sequential formation of structures called somites, which later develop into the ribs and vertebrae. Interference with this process of somitogenesis can lead to serious segmental defects and associated pathologies, such as Spondylocostal dysostosis (SCD). The aetiology of most Abnormal vertebral segmentation (AVS) Syndromes is unknown. However, one signalling pathway that has been associated with several human disorders such as SCD is the Notch signalling pathway. Somitogenesis is regulated by a molecular oscillator which drives oscillating gene expression in the paraxial mesoderm from which somites arise. The key components of the segmentation clock are intracellular components of the Notch, Wnt and FGF pathways. We have shown in mouse and chick, Notch activity is essential for both dynamic expression of all clock genes and for somite formation. Outstanding questions in the field which we are addressing are as follows:

  1. Oscillating genes are negative regulators of the pathways which activate them. It seems clear how these negative feedback loops regulate oscillatory gene expression intracellularly. We are investigating how patterns of gene expression are propagated across the PSM.
  2. How is the pace of the clock gene oscillations regulated?
  3. What is the level of cross talk and hierarchy within and between the Notch, Wnt and FGF pathways within the molecular oscillator.
A panel containing several separate images of data

Generation of somitoids, organoids that form somite-like segments similar to early embryos. a-j) Human iPSC expressing a fluorescent protein under control of a clock gene promoter are plated in 96 well plates and centrifuged to enable them to form Embryonic Bodies. These are differentiated into somitoids that were imaged over a period of 16 hours. The time series show oscillatory expression of the fluorescent protein. k) Quantification of the signal intensity enables the calculation of the period of the oscillations. l-n) After embedding in 10% Matrigel the somitoids form segments. Images of brightfield (l), DAPI stained (m), HCR for somite marker TBX18 (n).

Selected Publications

  1. Dale JK, Maroto M, Dequeant M-L, Malapert P, McGrew M, Pourquie O. (2003) Periodic inhibition by Lunatic Fringe underlies the chick Segmentation Clock. Nature 16; 421(6920):275-8.
  2. Ferjentsik Z, Hayashi S*, Dale JK*, Bessho Y, Herreman A, De Strooper B, del Monte G, Pompa JL, Maroto M (2009). Notch is a critical component of the mouse somitogenesis oscillator and is essential for the formation of the somites. PLOS Genetics; 5(9):e1000662. *Joint second authors.
  3. Gray S and Dale JK. (2010) Notch signalling regulates contribution of progenitor cells from chick Hensen’s node to the floor plate and notochord. Development. 137(4):561-8
  4. Bone R, Bailey C, Wiedermann G, Ferjentsik Z, Appleton P, Murray P, Maroto M, Dale JK (2014) Spatio-temporal oscillations of the Notch1, Dll1 ligand and NICD are coordinated across the mouse PSM. Development 141:4806-4816
  5. Stasiulewicz M, Gray S, Mastromina I, Silva JC, Bjorklund M, Seymour PA, Booth D, Thompson C, Green R, Hall EA, Serup P, Dale JK. (2015) A conserved role for Notch in priming the cellular response to Shh through ciliary localisation of the key Shh transducer, Smo. Development. 2015 Jul 1;142(13):2291-303
  6. Wiedermann G, Bone R, Clara J, Bjorklund M, Murray P, and Dale JK. (2015) A balance of positive and negative regulators determines the pace of the segmentation clock. eLife 2015;10.7554/eLife.05842
  7. Ioanna Mastromina, Laure Verrier, Kate G. Storey, J. Kim Dale. (2018) MYC activity is required for maintenance of the neuromesodermal progenitor signalling network and for segmentation clock gene oscillations in mouse. Development. 2018 Jul 30;145(14). pii: dev161091. doi: 10.1242/dev.161091.
  8. Francesca Anna Carrieri, Philip Murray, Dimitra Ditsova, Ferris MA, Paul Davies, J. Kim Dale (2019) CDK1 and CDK2 regulate NICD1 turnover and the periodicity of the segmentation clock EMBO Rep. 2019 Apr 17. pii: e46436. doi: 10.15252/embr.201846436
  9. Fay Cooper, Celine Souilhol Scott Haston , Shona Gray, Katy Boswell, Antigoni Gogolou, Frith T, Stavish D, Jasmes B, Bose D, Dale J.K., Tskaraidis A. (2024) Notch signalling influences cell fate decisions and HOX gene induction in axial progenitors Development 1;151(3):dev202098. doi:10.1242/dev.202098. Epub 2024 Feb 12.
  10. French, M., Portero Migueles, R., Dale, K., Blin, G., Wilson, V. & Lowell, S. (2024), A toolkit for mapping cell identities in relation to neighbours reveals Notch-dependent heterogeneity within neuromesodermal progenitor populations (Accepted/In press) In: PLoS Biology. bioRxiv
  11. H.Meijer, S. Johnson, L. Davidson, A. Hetherington, P. Murray, P. Davies, J. K. Dale (under review) Notch1 S2513 is critical for the regulation of NICD levels in hiPSC derived PSM cells and somite formation. bioRxiv

People in my lab

  • Dr Hedda Meijer (Postdoctoral Researcher)
  • Dr Sara Johnson (Postdoctoral Researcher)
  • Adam Hetherington (Technician)
  • Rosie Gallagher (PhD student - second supervisor)
View full research profile and publications

Teaching

  • Lectures: Cell & Developmental Biology Master’s year
  • Supervision of two UG Hons students annually for their honours project
  • Supervision of one MSc student annually for their research project

D'Arcy Thompson Unit Divisional Representative for the MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit.

PhD Projects

Principal supervisor

Second supervisor

Awards

Award Year
DUSA Awards / Best Postgraduate Supervisor - DUSA Student Led Teaching Awards (2018) 2018
Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology 2012
Personal Fellowships / The Royal Society University Research Fellowship (renewal) 2010
Personal Fellowships / The Royal Society University Research Fellowship 2005

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