Dr Kelly Smith

Group Leader, Genomics of Development and Disease Division

Co-Director

Centre for Cardiac and Vascular Biology

+61 7 334 62053

k.smith@imb.uq.edu.au

Highlights

Dr Kelly Smith is a developmental biologist. She studies how the heart forms in embryo from a few cells of undetermined identity to a 3-dimensional beating organ. During her PhD, she was in the place where surgeons performed Australia’s first split liver transplant, trying to get more out of the organs that they had, and she thought ‘we should be making these.' Given the vital role the heart plays in supporting life, she has focussed her research to try and understand this particular organ.

Dr Smith was involved in the largest forward genetic screen in Australia. Using Zebrafish, the study screened over 400 families of fish and found 30 different genes, nine of which were new. Through this study, she identified a gene responsible for heart arrhythmia and a protein called Tmem2 that degrades the extracellular matrix. Dr Smith had discovered the gene in her post-doctoral research, but the large-scale forward screen helped to describe its role in our body.

During her post-doctoral research, Dr Smith also found a mutation responsible for a congenital condition called ‘atrial septal defect’ where blood flows between the chambers.

Dr Smith conducts her research using Zebrafish. She creates a fish version of a patient (an avatar) with a particular gene mutation and monitors what is happening within the embryo.

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Grimm, Lin, Mason, Elizabeth, Yu, Hujun, Dudczig, Stefanie, Panara, Virginia, Chen, Tyrone, Bower, Neil I., Paterson, Scott, Rondon Galeano, Maria, Kobayashi, Sakurako, Senabouth, Anne, Lagendijk, Anne K., Powell, Joseph, Smith, Kelly A., Okuda, Kazuhide S., Koltowska, Katarzyna and Hogan, Benjamin M. (2023). Single‐cell analysis of lymphatic endothelial cell fate specification and differentiation during zebrafish development. The EMBO Journal, 42 (11) e112590, e112590. doi: 10.15252/embj.2022112590

Smith, Kelly A., Dominado, Nicole and Briffa, Jessica F. (2023). Fins, fur, and wings: the study of Tmem161b across species, and what it tells us about its function in the heart. Mammalian Genome, 34 (2), 270-275. doi: 10.1007/s00335-023-09994-z

Akula, Shyam K., Marciano, Jack H., Lim, Youngshin, Exposito-Alonso, David, Hylton, Norma K., Hwang, Grace H., Neil, Jennifer E., Dominado, Nicole, Bunton-Stasyshyn, Rosie K., Song, Janet H. T., Talukdar, Maya, Schmid, Aloisia, Teboul, Lydia, Mo, Alisa, Shin, Taehwan, Finander, Benjamin, Beck, Samantha G., Yeh, Rebecca C., Otani, Aoi, Qian, Xuyu, DeGennaro, Ellen M., Alkuraya, Fowzan S., Maddirevula, Sateesh, Cascino, Gregory D., Giannini, Caterina, Burrage, Lindsay C., Rosenfield, Jill A., Ketkar, Shamika, Clark, Gary D. ... Undiagnosed Diseases Network (2023). TMEM161B regulates cerebral cortical gyration, Sonic Hedgehog signaling, and ciliary structure in the developing central nervous system. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120 (4) e2209964120, 1-12. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2209964120

Morgan, Kimberly J., Doggett, Karen, Geng, Fansuo, Mieruszynski, Stephen, Whitehead, Lachlan, Smith, Kelly A., Hogan, Benjamin M., Simons, Cas, Baillie, Gregory J., Molania, Ramyar, Papenfuss, Anthony T., Hall, Thomas E., Ober, Elke A., Stainier, Didier Y.R., Gong, Zhiyuan and Heath, Joan Kathleen (2023). ahctf1 and kras mutations combine to amplify oncogenic stress and restrict liver overgrowth in a zebrafish model of hepatocellular carcinoma. eLife, 12 e73407, 1-28. doi: 10.7554/elife.73407

Capon, Samuel J., Uribe, Veronica, Dominado, Nicole, Ehrlich, Ophelia and Smith, Kelly A. (2022). Endocardial identity is established during early somitogenesis by Bmp signalling acting upstream of npas4l and etv2. Development, 149 (9) dev190421. doi: 10.1242/dev.190421

Koltowska, Katarzyna, Okuda, Kazuhide S., Gloger, Marleen, Rondon-Galeano, Maria, Mason, Elizabeth, Xuan, Jiachen, Dudczig, Stefanie, Chen, Huijun, Arnold, Hannah, Skoczylas, Renae, Bower, Neil I., Paterson, Scott, Lagendijk, Anne Karine, Baillie, Gregory J., Leshchiner, Ignaty, Simons, Cas, Smith, Kelly A., Goessling, Wolfram, Heath, Joan K., Pearson, Richard B., Sanij, Elaine, Schulte-Merker, Stefan and Hogan, Benjamin M. (2021). The RNA helicase Ddx21 controls Vegfc-driven developmental lymphangiogenesis by balancing endothelial cell ribosome biogenesis and p53 function. Nature Cell Biology, 23 (11), 1136-1147. doi: 10.1038/s41556-021-00784-w

Lo, Harriet P., Lim, Ye-Wheen, Xiong, Zherui, Martel, Nick, Ferguson, Charles, Ariotti, Nicholas, Giacomotto, Jean, Rae, James, Floetenmeyer, Matthias, Moradi, Shayli Varasteh, Gao, Ya, Tillu, Vikas A., Xia, Di, Wang, Huang, Rahnama, Samira, Nixon, Susan J., Bastiani, Michele, Day, Ryan D., Smith, Kelly A., Palpant, Nathan J., Johnston, Wayne A., Alexandrov, Kirill, Collins, Brett M., Hall, Thomas E. and Parton, Robert G. (2021). Cavin4 interacts with Bin1 to promote T-tubule formation and stability in developing skeletal muscle. Journal of Cell Biology, 220 (12) e201905065. doi: 10.1083/jcb.201905065

Smith, Kelly A. and Uribe, Veronica (2021). Getting to the heart of left–right asymmetry: contributions from the zebrafish model. Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease, 8 (6) 64, 64. doi: 10.3390/jcdd8060064

Koopman, Charlotte D., De Angelis, Jessica, Iyer, Swati P., Verkerk, Arie O., Da Silva, Jason, Berecki, Geza, Jeanes, Angela, Baillie, Gregory J., Paterson, Scott, Uribe, Veronica, Ehrlich, Ophelia V., Robinson, Samuel D., Garric, Laurence, Petrou, Steven, Simons, Cas, Vetter, Irina, Hogan, Benjamin M., de Boer, Teun P., Bakkers, Jeroen and Smith, Kelly A. (2021). The zebrafish mutant uncovers an evolutionarily conserved role for Tmem161b in the control of cardiac rhythm. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118 (9) e2018220118, e2018220118. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2018220118

Chaudhury, Smrita, Okuda, Kazuhide S., Koltowska, Katarzyna, Lagendijk, Anne K., Paterson, Scott, Baillie, Gregory J., Simons, Cas, Smith, Kelly A., Hogan, Benjamin M. and Bower, Neil I. (2020). Localised Collagen2a1 secretion supports lymphatic endothelial cell migration in the zebrafish embryo. Development, 147 (18) dev190983, dev.190983. doi: 10.1242/dev.190983

Smith, Kelly A. and Mommersteeg, Mathilda T.M. (2020). Talkin’ ‘bout regeneration: new advances in cardiac regeneration using the zebrafish. Current Opinion in Physiology, 14, 48-55. doi: 10.1016/j.cophys.2019.12.016

Baek, Sungmin, Oh, Tae Gyu, Secker, Genevieve, Sutton, Drew L., Okuda, Kazuhide S., Paterson, Scott, Bower, Neil I., Toubia, John, Koltowska, Katarzyna, Capon, Samuel J., Baillie, Gregory J., Simons, Cas, Muscat, George E.O., Lagendijk, Anne K., Smith, Kelly A., Harvey, Natasha L. and Hogan, Benjamin M. (2019). The alternative splicing regulator Nova2 constrains vascular Erk signaling to limit specification of the lymphatic lineage. Developmental Cell, 49 (2), 279-292. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2019.03.017

Grassini, Daniela R., Da Silva, Jason, Hall, Thomas E., Baillie, Gregory J., Simons, Cas, Parton, Robert G., Hogan, Benjamin M. and Smith, Kelly A. (2019). Myosin Vb is required for correct trafficking of N-cadherin and cardiac chamber ballooning. Developmental Dynamics, 248 (4) dvdy.19, 284-295. doi: 10.1002/dvdy.19

Grassini, Daniela R., Lagendijk, Anne K., De Angelis, Jessica E., Da Silva, Jason, Jeanes, Angela, Zettler, Nicole, Bower, Neil I., Hogan, Benjamin M. and Smith, Kelly A. (2018). Nppa and Nppb act redundantly during zebrafish cardiac development to confine AVC marker expression and reduce cardiac jelly volume. Development, 145 (12) dev160739, dev160739. doi: 10.1242/dev.160739

Lagendijk, Anne Karine, Gomez, Guillermo A, Baek, Sungmin, Hesselson, Daniel, Hughes, William E, Paterson, Scott, Conway, Daniel E, Belting, Heinz-Georg, Affolter, Markus, Smith, Kelly A, Schwartz, Martin A, Yap, Alpha S and Hogan, Benjamin M (2017). Live imaging molecular changes in junctional tension upon VE-cadherin in zebrafish. Nature communications, 8 (1) 1402, 1-12. doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-01325-6

De Angelis, Jessica E., Lagendijk, Anne K., Chen, Huijun, Tromp, Alisha, Bower, Neil I., Tunny, Kathryn A., Brooks, Andrew J., Bakkers, Jeroen, Francois, Mathias, Yap, Alpha S., Simons, Cas, Wicking, Carol, Hogan, Benjamin M. and Smith, Kelly A. (2017). Correction to: Tmem2 regulates embryonic Vegf signaling by controlling hyaluronic acid turnover (Developmental Cell 40, 2017, 123-136). Developmental Cell, 40 (4), 421-421. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2017.02.005

De Angelis, Jessica E., Lagendijk, Anne K., Chen, Huijun, Tromp, Alisha, Bower, Neil I., Tunny, Kathryn A., Brooks, Andrew J., Bakkers, Jeroen, Francois, Mathias, Yap, Alpha S., Simons, Cas, Wicking, Carol, Hogan, Benjamin M. and Smith, Kelly A. (2017). Tmem2 regulates embryonic Vegf signaling by controlling hyaluronic acid turnover. Developmental Cell, 40 (2), 123-136. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2016.12.017

Capon, Samuel James, Baillie, Gregory, Bower, Neil, Da Silva, Jason Andrew, Paterson, Scott, Hogan, Ben, Simons, Cas and Smith, Kelly (2017). Utilising polymorphisms to achieve allele-specific genome editiing in zebrafish. Biology Open, 6 (1), 125-131. doi: 10.1242/bio.020974

Nakano, Atsushi, Nakano, Haruko, Smith, Kelly A. and Palpant, Nathan J. (2016). The developmental origins and lineage contributions of endocardial endothelium. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta. Molecular Cell Research, 1863 (7), 1937-1947. doi: 10.1016/j.bbamcr.2016.01.022

Koltowska, Katarzyna, Paterson, Scott, Bower, Neil I., Baillie, Gregory J., Lagendijk, Anne K., Astin, Jonathan W., Chen, Huijun, Francois, Mathias, Crosier, Philip S., Taft, Ryan J., Simons, Cas, Smith, Kelly A. and Hogan, Benjamin M. (2015). mafba is a downstream transcriptional effector of Vegfc signaling essential for embryonic lymphangiogenesis in zebrafish. Genes and Development, 29 (15), 1618-1630. doi: 10.1101/gad.263210.115

Coxam, Baptiste, Neyt, Christine, Grassini, Daniela R., Le Guen, Ludovic, Smith, Kelly A., Schulte-Merker, Stefan and Hogan, Benjamin M. (2014). carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase 2, aspartate transcarbamylase, and dihydroorotase (cad) regulates notch signaling and vascular development in zebrafish. Developmental Dynamics, 244 (1), 1-9. doi: 10.1002/DVDY.24209

Coxam, Baptiste, Sabine, Amelie, Bower, Neil I., Smith, Kelly A., Pichol-Thievend, Cathy, Skoczylas, Renae, Astin, Jonathan W., Frampton, Emmanuelle, Jaquet, Muriel, Crosier, Philip S., Parton, Robert G., Harvey, Natasha L., Petrova, Tatiana V., Schulte-Merker, Stefan, Francois, Mathias and Hogan, Benjamin M. (2014). Pkd1 regulates lymphatic vascular morphogenesis during development. Cell Reports, 7 (3), 623-633. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2014.03.063

Duong, Tam, Koltowska, Katarzyna, Pichol-Thievend, Cathy, Le Guen, Ludovic, Fontaine, Frank R., Smith, Kelly, Truong, Vy, Skoczylas, Renae, Stacker, Steven A., Achen, Marc G., Koopman, Peter, Hogan, Ben and Francois, Mathias (2013). VEGFD regulates blood vascular development by modulating SOX18 activity. Blood, 123 (7), 1102-1112. doi: 10.1182/blood-2013-04-495432

Kartopawiro, Joëlle, Neil Bower, Neil I., Karnezis, Tara, Kazenwadel, Jan, Betterman, Kelly L., Lesieur, Emmanuelle, Koltowska, Katarzyna, Astin, Jonathan, Crosier, Philip, Vermeren, Sonja, Achen, Marc G., Stacker, Steven A., Smith, Kelly A., Harvey, Natasha L., François, Mathias and Hogan, Benjamin M. (2013). Arap3 is dysregulated in a mouse model of hypotrichosis-lymphedema-telangiectasia and regulates lymphatic vascular development. Human Molecular Genetics, Advance Access (5) ddt518, 1-12. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddt518

Noel, Emily S., Verhoeven, Manon, Lagendijk, Anne Karine, Tessadori, Federico, Smith, Kelly, Choorapoikayil, Suma, Den Hertog, Jeroen and Bakkers, Jeroen (2013). A Nodal-independent and tissue-intrinsic mechanism controls heart-looping chirality. Nature Communications, 4 (1) 2754. doi: 10.1038/ncomms3754

de Pater, Emma, Ciampricotti, Metamia, Priller, Florian, Veerkamp, Justus, Strate, Ina, Smith, Kelly, Lagendijk, Anne Karine, Schilling, Thomas F., Herzog, Wiebke, Abdelilah-Seyfried, Salim, Hammerschmidt, Matthias and Bakkers, Jeroen (2012). Bmp signaling exerts opposite effects on cardiac differentiation. Circulation Research, 110 (4), 578-587. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.111.261172

Smith, Kelly A., Lagendijk, Anne K., Courtney, Andrew D., Chen, Huijun, Paterson, Scott, Hogan, Benjamin M., Wicking, Carol and Bakkers, Jeroen (2011). Transmembrane protein 2 (Tmem2) is required to regionally restrict atrioventricular canal boundary and endocardial cushion development. Development, 138 (19), 4193-4198. doi: 10.1242/dev.065375

Joziasse, Irene C., Smith, Kelly A., Chocron, Sonja, van Dinther, Maarten, Guryev, Victor, van de Smagt, Jasper J., Cuppen, Edwin, ten Dijke, Peter, Mulder, Barbara J. M., Maslen, Cheryl L., Reshey, Benjamin, Doevendans, Pieter A. and Bakkers, Jeroen (2011). ALK2 mutation in a patient with Down's syndrome and a congenital heart defect. European Journal of Human Genetics, 19 (4), 389-393. doi: 10.1038/ejhg.2010.224

Smith, Kelly A., Noel, Emily, Thurlings, Ingrid, Rehmann, Holger, Chocron, Sonja and Bakkers, Jeroen (2011). Bmp and Nodal independently regulate lefty1 expression to maintain unilateral Nodal activity during left-right axis specification in zebrafish. PLoS Genetics, 7 (9) e1002289, e1002289.1-e1002289.13. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1002289

Lagendijk, Anne Karine, Smith, Kelly A. and Bakkers, Jeroen (2010). Genetics of congenital heart defects: A candidate gene approach. Trends in Cardiovascular Medicine, 20 (4), 124-128. doi: 10.1016/j.tcm.2010.10.003

Smith, Kelly A., Hao, Jinsong and Li, S. Kevin (2010). Influence of pH on transungual passive and iontophoretic transport. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 99 (4), 1955-1967. doi: 10.1002/jps.21984

Carlson, Tracy K., Torrelles, Jordi B., Smith, Kelly, Horlacher, Tim, Castelli, Riccardo, Seeberger, Peter H., Crouch, Erika C. and Schlesinger, Larry S. (2009). Critical role of amino acid position 343 of surfactant protein-D in the selective binding of glycolipids from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Glycobiology, 19 (12), 1473-1484. doi: 10.1093/glycob/cwp122

Smith, Kelly A., Joziasse, Irene C., Chocron, Sonja, Van Dinther, Maarten, Guryev, Victor, Verhoeven, Manon C., Rehmann, Holger, Van Der Smagt, Jasper J., Doevendans, Pieter A., Cuppen, Edwin, Mulder, Barbara J., Ten Dijke, Peter and Bakkers, Joeroen (2009). Dominant-negative alk2 allele associates with congenital heart defects. Circulation, 119 (24), 3062-3069. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.108.843714

Hao, Jinsong, Smith, Kelly A. and Li, S. Kevin (2009). Iontophoretically enhanced ciclopirox delivery into and across human nail plate. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 98 (10), 3608-3616. doi: 10.1002/jps.21664

Kovac, Suzana, Smith, Kelly, Anderson, Gregory J., Burgess, John R., Shulkes, Arthur and Baldwin, Graham S. (2008). Interrelationships between circulating gastrin and iron status in mice and humans. American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, 295 (4), G855-G861. doi: 10.1152/ajpgi.90359.2008

Joziasse, Irene C., van de Smagt, Jasper J., Smith, Kelly, Bakkers, Jeroen, Sieswerda, Gert-Jan, Mulder, Barbara J. M. and Doevendans, Peter A. (2008). Genes in congenital heart disease: atrioventricular valve formation. Basic Research in Cardiology, 103 (3), 216-227. doi: 10.1007/s00395-008-0713-4

Smith, Kelly A., Chocron, Sonja, von der Hardt, Sophia, de Pater, Emma, Soufan, Alexander, Bussmann, Jeroen, Schulte-Merker, Stefan, Hammerschmidt, Matthias and Bakkers, Jeroen (2008). Rotation and asymmetric development of the zebrafish heart requires directed migration of cardiac progenitor cells. Developmental Cell, 14 (2), 287-297. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2007.11.015

Smith K.A., Kovac S., Anderson G.J., Shulkes A. and Baldwin G.S. (2006). Circulating gastrin is increased in hemochromatosis. FEBS Letters, 580 (26), 6195-6198. doi: 10.1016/j.febslet.2006.10.021

Smith, Kelly A., Patel, Oneel, Lachal, Shamilah, Jennings, Ian, Kemp, Bruce, Burgess, John, Baldwin, Graham S. and Shulkes, Arthur (2006). Production, secretion, and biological activity of the C-terminal flanking peptide of human progastrin. Gastroenterology, 131 (5), 1463-1474. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2006.08.040

Georgas, K. M., Burridge, Linda M., Smith, K., Holmes, Greg P., Chenevix-Trench, G., Ioannou, P. A. and Little, M. H. (1999). Assignment of the human slit homologue SLIT2 to human chromosome band 4p15.2. Cytogenetics and Cell Genetics, 86 (3-4), 246-247. doi: 10.1159/000015351

Conference Papers

Koltowska, Kaska, Paterson, Scott, Lagendijk, Anne Karine, Chen, Huijun, Baillie, Gregory, Leshchiner, Ignat, Geossling, Wolfram, Smith, Kelly, Simons, Cas, Schulte-Merker, Stefan and Hogan, Ben (2017). Lymphatic and facial defects 1 regulates expansion of the lymphatic endothelial cell lineage upon its emergence from the cardinal vein. 18th International Congress of Developmental Biology, Singapore, Singapore, 18 - 22 June 2017. Shannon, Clare Ireland: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.mod.2017.04.447

Bakkers, Jeroen, Chocron, Sonja, Gouriev, Victor, Smith, Kelly, Deprez, Ronald Lekanne Dit, Joziasse, Irene C., Doevendans, Pieter A., Mulder, Barbara J., Simpson, Melanie, Barycki, Joseph and Cuppen, Edwin (2007). Large scale mutation discovery screen identifies functionally variant UGDH alleles in patients with atrioventricular valve defects. 80th Annual Scientific Session of the American-Heart-Association, Orlando Fl, Nov 04-07, 2007. PHILADELPHIA: LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS.

Kovac, S., Smith, K., Burgess, J. R., Shulkes, A. and Baldwin, G. S. (2007). Involvement of gastrin peptides in iron metabolism. 32nd Congress of the Federation-of-European-Biochemical-Societies (FEBS), Vienna Austria, Jul 07-12, 2007. OXFORD: BLACKWELL PUBLISHING.

Baldwin, G. S., Smith, K., Kovac, S., Anderson, G. J., Burgess, J. R. and Shulkes, A. (2007). Reciprocal relationship between circulating gastrin and iron status in mice and humans. HOBOKEN: WILEY-LISS.

Smith, Kelly, Kovac, Suzana, Anderson, Gregory J., Burgess, John, Shulkes, Arthur and Baldwin, Graham S. (2007). Reciprocal relationship between circulating gastrin and iron status in mice and humans. Digestive Disease Weeking Meeting/ASGE Postgraduate Course Meeting, Washington Dc, May 19-24, 2007. PHILADELPHIA: WILEY-LISS.

Kovac, Suzana, Smith, Kelly, Shulkes, Arthur and Baldwin, Graham S. (2006). Relationship between gastrin and iron in mice with haemolytic anemia. 16th International Symposium on Regulatory Peptides, Hakone Japan, Aug 31-Sep 02, 2006. AMSTERDAM: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV.

Smith, Kelly, Patel, Oneel, Lachal, Shamilah, Jennings, Ian, Kemp, Bruce, Burgess, John, Baldwin, Graham and Shulkes, Arthur (2006). Secretion, production and biological activity of the human C-terminal flanking peptide of progastrin. Digestive Disease Week Meeting/107th Annual Meeting of the American-Gastroenterlogical-Association, Los Angeles Ca, May 20-25, 2006. PHILADELPHIA: W B SAUNDERS CO-ELSEVIER INC.

Dr Kelly Smith

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