Biology Department Faculty
Sarah McMenamin
Associate Professor
Sarah McMenamin
Ph.D.
Contact
Higgins Hall 361A
Telephone: 617-552-3989
Email: sarah.mcmenamin@bc.edu
ORCID 0000-0002-1154-5810
Education
- B.S., Mount Holyoke College
- Ph.D., Stanford University
Research Interests
Evolutionary development, thyroid hormone, skeletal patterning, appendage regeneration
Department
Research
How do developmental processes occur at the right time? What genetic and endocrine factors regulate developmental transitions in the skeleton? How can developmental timing be modified to cause congenital disease or create evolutionarily novel phenotypes?
Our lab uses the skeleton of the zebrafish as a model to understand how developmental elements are normally integrated with one another during development. A major goal of our research is to understand the roles of thyroid hormone in vertebrate development, particularly the development of the craniofacial elements and the fins. Thyroid hormone stimulates amphibian metamorphosis, but its roles in the stimulating developmental transitions in 'non-metamorphic' vertebrates (including humans and zebrafish) are less well understood. Our work seeks to discover the mechanisms by which this endocrine factor specifically directs the morphogenesis and positional identity of different elements within the skeleton.
Our research integrates development, endocrinology and evolution, and we use molecular biology to answer fundamental questions about form and function.
Selected Publications
- Harper M (equal contributor), Hu Y (equal contributor), Donahue J, Acosta B, Dievenich Braes F, Nguyen S, Zeng J, Barbaro J, Lee H, Bui H, McMenamin SK. Thyroid hormone regulates proximodistal patterning in fin rays. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2023 May 23;120(21):e2219770120.
- Fath M, Nguyen S, Donahue J#, McMenamin SK, Tytell E. 2023. Static stability and swim bladder volume in bluegill sunfish Lepomis macrochirus. Integrative Organismal Biology, obad005, 10.1093/iob/obad005
- Conith MR, Ringo D, Conith AJ, Deleon A, Wagner M, McMenamin SK, Cason S, Cooper WJ. 2022. The evolution of feeding mechanics in the Danioninae, or why giant Danios don't suck like zebrafish. Integrative Organismal Biology. 10.1093/iob/obac049.
- Nguyen S, Lanni D, Xu Y, Michaelson J, McMenamin SK. 2022. Dynamics of the zebrafish skeleton in three dimensions during juvenile and adult development. Frontiers in Physiology. 10.3389.
- Keer S, Storch JD, Nguyen S, Prado M, Singh S, Hernadez LP, McMenamin SK. 2022. Thyroid hormone shapes craniofacial bones during postembryonic zebrafish development. Evolution & Development. 10.1111/ede.12399.
- Bagwell J, Norman J, Ellis KL, Peskin B, Hwang J, Ge X, Nguyen S, McMenamin SK, Stainier DYR, Bagnat M. 2020. Notochord vacuoles absorb compressive bone growth during zebrafish spine formation. eLife. 9:e51221.
- Hu Y, Mauri A, Donahue J, Singh R, Acosta B, McMenamin SK. 2019. Thyroid hormone coordinates developmental trajectories but does not underlie developmental truncation in danionins. Developmental Dynamics. 10.1002/dvdy.76.
- Galindo D, Sweet E, DeLeon Z, Wagner M, DeLeon A, Carter C, McMenamin SK, Cooper WJ. 2019. Thyroid hormone modulation during zebrafish development recapitulates evolved diversity in danionin jaw protrusion mechanics. Evolution & Development. e12299.
- Keer S, Cohen K, May C, Hu Y, McMenamin SK, Hernandez LP. 2019. Anatomical assessment of the adult skeleton of zebrafish reared under different thyroid hormone profiles. The Anatomical Record. 10.1002/ar.24139.
- Hur M, Gistelinck CA, Huber P, Lee J, Thompson MH, Monstad-Rios AT, Watson CJ, McMenamin SK, Willaert A, Parichy DM, Coucke P, Kwon RY. 2018. MicroCT-based skeletal phenomics in zebrafish reveals virtues of deep phenotyping in a distributed organ system. Zebrafish. 15(1):77-78.
- McMenamin SK, Carter C, Cooper WJ. 2017. Thyroid hormone stimulates the onset of adult feeding kinematics in zebrafish. Zebrafish, 14(6):517-525.
- McMenamin SK, Bain EJ, McCann AE, Patterson LB, Eom DS, Waller ZP, Hamill JC, Kuhlman JA, Eisen JS, Parichy DM. 2014. Thyroid hormone-dependent adult pigment cell lineage and pattern in zebrafish. Science 345(6202), 1358-1361.