Peter Currie

DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH

  • peter.currie@monash.edu
  • +61 (3) 9902 9602

Biography

Peter D. Currie received his PhD in Drosophila genetics from Syracuse University, New York, USA.

He undertook postdoctoral training in zebrafish development at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (now Cancer Research UK) in London, UK. He has worked as an independent laboratory head at the UK Medical Research Council Human Genetics Unit in Edinburgh, UK and the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in Sydney, Australia where he headed a research programme focused on skeletal muscle development and regeneration.

His work is centred on understanding how the small freshwater zebrafish is able to build and regenerate skeletal muscle.

In 2016 he was appointed Director of Research of the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He is a recipient of a European Molecular Biology Organization Young Investigators Award and a Wellcome Trust International Research Fellowship and currently is a Senior Principal Research Fellow with the National Health and Medical Research Council in Australia.

Click here for full list of publications on ORCID

Research interests

Zebrafish muscle development and evolution

A combination of genetic and embryological amenability has placed zebrafish at the forefront of attempts to understand how genes function to control vertebrate development.

The optical transparency of the zebrafish embryo provides the ability to visualise every cell in the forming embryo by simple optical inspection as well as enabling the use of a host of cell labeling and transgenic approaches to dissect embryonic development.

Furthermore, the large-scale mutagenesis of the zebrafish genome has also produced many different classes of mutations that disrupt gene function. We use the many advantages of zebrafish embryology to dissect molecular mechanisms that act to pattern the vertebrate embryo.

In particular, we are interested in how specific muscle cell types are determined within the developing embryo.

Funding acknowledgements

Featured Publications

Authors Title Published In

Nguyen PD, Currie PD.

In vivo imaging: shining a light on stem cells in the living animal.

Development. 2018 Mar 28;145(7). pii: dev150441. doi: 10.1242/dev.150441.

Thomasi ABD, Sonntag C, Pires DF, Zuidema D, Benci A, Currie PD, Wood AJ.

A Low-Cost Pulse Generator for Exacerbating Muscle Fiber Detachment Phenotypes in Zebrafish.

Zebrafish. 2018 Jan 30. doi: 10.1089/zeb.2017.1512. [Epub ahead of print]

Berger J, Berger S, Li M, Jacoby AS, Arner A, Bavi N, Stewart AG, Currie PD.

In Vivo Function of the Chaperonin TRiC in α-Actin Folding during Sarcomere Assembly.

Cell Rep. 2018 Jan 9;22(2):313-322. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2017.12.069.

Masselink W, Masaki M, Sieiro D, Marcelle C, Currie PD.

Phosphorylation of Lbx1 controls lateral myoblast migration into the limb.

Dev Biol. 2017 Oct 15;430(2):302-309. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2017.08.025. Epub 2017 Aug 24.

Dudczig S, Currie PD, Jusuf PR.

Developmental and adult characterization of secretagogin expressing amacrine cells in zebrafish retina.

PLoS One. 2017 Sep 26;12(9):e0185107. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0185107. eCollection 2017.

Nguyen PD, Gurevich DB, Sonntag C, Hersey L, Alaei S, Nim HT, Siegel A, Hall TE, Rossello FJ, Boyd SE, Polo JM, Currie PD.

Muscle stem cells undergo extensive clonal drift during tissue growth via Meox1-Mediated induction of G2 cell-cycle arrest.

Cell Stem Cell. 2017 Jul 6;21(1):107-119.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2017.06.003.

Goodings L, He J, Wood AJ, Harris WA, Currie PD, Jusuf PR.

In vivo expression of Nurr1/Nr4a2a in developing retinal amacrine subtypes in zebrafish Tg(nr4a2a:eGFP) transgenics.

J Comp Neurol. 2017 Jun 1;525(8):1962-1979. doi: 10.1002/cne.24185. Epub 2017 Mar 15.

Ratnayake D, Currie PD.

Stem cell dynamics in muscle regeneration: Insights from live imaging in different animal models.

Bioessays. 2017 Jun;39(6). doi: 10.1002/bies.201700011. Epub 2017 Apr 25.

Dudczig S, Currie PD, Poggi L, Jusuf PR.

In vivo imaging of transgenic gene expression in individual retinal progenitors in chimeric zebrafish embryos to study cell nonautonomous influences.

J Vis Exp. 2017 Mar 22;(121). doi: 10.3791/55490.

Berger J, Berger S, Li M, Currie PD.

Myo18b is essential for sarcomere assembly in fast skeletal muscle.

Hum Mol Genet. 2017 Mar 15;26(6):1146-1156. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddx025.

Li M, Hromowyk KJ, Amacher SL, Currie PD.

Muscular dystrophy modeling in zebrafish.

Methods Cell Biol. 2017;138:347-380. doi: 10.1016/bs.mcb.2016.11.004. Epub 2016 Dec 29.

Nguyen PD, Currie PD.

Using Transgenic Zebrafish to Study Muscle Stem/Progenitor Cells.

Methods Mol Biol. 2017;1556:117-125. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-6771-1_6.

Kei JNC, Currie PD, Jusuf PR.

Fate bias during neural regeneration adjusts dynamically without recapitulating developmental fate progression.

Neural Development 2017;12:12. doi: 10.1186/s13064-017-0089-y.

Kei JN, Dudczig S, Currie PD, Jusuf PR.

Feedback from each retinal neuron population drives expression of subsequent fate determinant genes without influencing the cell cycle exit timing.

J Comp Neurol. 2016 Sep 1;524(13):2553-66. doi: 10.1002/cne.23976. Epub 2016 Mar 1.

Masselink W, Cole NJ, Fenyes F, Berger S, Sonntag C, Wood A, Nguyen PD, Cohen N, Knopf F, Weidinger G, Hall TE, Currie PD.

A somitic contribution to the apical ectodermal ridge is essential for fin formation.

Nature. 2016 Jul 28;535(7613):542-6.

Gurevich DB, Nguyen PD, Siegel AL, Ehrlich OV, Sonntag C, Phan JM, Berger S, Ratnayake D, Hersey L, Berger J, Verkade H, Hall TE, Currie PD.

Asymmetric division of clonal muscle stem cells coordinates muscle regeneration in vivo.

Science. 2016 May 19. pii: aad9969. [Epub ahead of print]

Don EK, de Jong-Curtain TA, Doggett K, Hall TE, Heng B, Badrock AP, Winnick C, Nicholson GA, Guillemin GJ, Currie PD, Hesselson D, Heath JK, Cole NJ.

Genetic basis of hindlimb loss in a naturally occurring vertebrate model.

Biol Open. 2016 Feb 18;5(3):359-66. doi: 10.1242/bio.016295.

Johanson Z, Boisvert C, Maksimenko A, Currie PD, Trinajstic K.

Development of the Synarcual in the Elephant Sharks (Holocephali; Chondrichthyes): Implications for Vertebral Formation and Fusion.

PLoS One; 2015 Sep 4;10(9):e0135138. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0135138. eCollection 2015.

Sztal TE, Zhao M, Williams C, Oorschot V, Parslow AC, Giousoh A, Yuen M, Hall TE, Costin A, Ramm G, Bird PI, Busch-Nentwich EM, Stemple DL, Currie PD, Cooper ST, Laing NG, Nowak KJ, Bryson-Richardson RJ.

Zebrafish models for nemaline myopathy reveal a spectrum of nemaline bodies contributing to reduced muscle function.

Acta Neuropathol; 2015 Sep;130(3):389-406. doi: 10.1007/s00401-015-1430-3. Epub 2015 May 1.

Goldshmit Y, Kanner S, Zacs M, Frisca F, Pinto AR, Currie PD, Pinkas-Kramarski R.

Rapamycin increases neuronal survival, reduces inflammation and astrocyte proliferation after spinal cord injury.

Mol Cell Neurosci; 2015 Apr 30;68:82-91. doi: 10.1016/j.mcn.2015.04.006. [Epub ahead of print]

Berger J, Hall TE, Currie PD.

Novel transgenic lines to label sarcolemma and myofibrils of the musculature.

Zebrafish; 2015 Feb;12(1):124-5. doi: 10.1089/zeb.2014.1065. Epub 2015 Jan 2.

Gurevich D, Siegel A, Currie PD.

Skeletal myogenesis in the zebrafish and its implications for muscle disease modelling.

Results Probl Cell Differ. 2015;56:49-76. doi: 10.1007/978-3-662-44608-9_3.

Goldshmit Y, Frisca F, Kaslin J, Pinto AR, Tang JK, Pébay A, Pinkas-Kramarski R, Currie PD.

Decreased anti-regenerative effects after spinal cord injury in spry4-/- mice.

Neuroscience. 2015 Feb 26;287:104-12. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.12.020. Epub 2014 Dec 22.4.

Boisvert CA, Martins CL, Edmunds AG, Cocks J, Currie PD.

Capture, transport, and husbandry of elephant sharks (Callorhinchus milii) adults, eggs, and hatchlings for research and display.

Zoo Biol; 2015 Jan-Feb;34(1):94-8. doi: 10.1002/zoo.21183. Epub 2014 Nov 14.

Goldshmit Y, Trangle SS, Kloog Y, Pinkas-Kramarski R.

Interfering with the interaction between ErbB1, nucleolin and Ras as a potential treatment for glioblastoma.

Oncotarget. 2014 Sep 30;5(18):8602-13.

Berger J, Tarakci H, Berger S, Li M, Hall TE, Arner A, Currie PD.

Loss of Tropomodulin4 in the zebrafish mutant träge causes cytoplasmic rod formation and muscle weakness reminiscent of nemaline myopathy.

Dis Model Mech; 2014 Dec;7(12):1407-15. doi: 10.1242/dmm.017376. Epub 2014 Oct 2.

Nguyen PD, Hollway GE, Sonntag C, Miles LB, Hall TE, Berger S, Fernandez KJ, Gurevich DB, Cole NJ, Alaei S, Ramialison M, Sutherland RL, Polo JM, Lieschke GJ, Currie PD.

Haematopoietic stem cell induction by somite-derived endothelial cells controlled by meox1.

Nature; 2014 Aug 21;512(7514):314-8. doi: 10.1038/nature13678. Epub 2014 Aug 13.

Goldshmit Y, Frisca F, Pinto AR, Pebay A, Tang JK, Siegel AL, Kaslin J, Currie PD.

Fgf2 improves functional recovery-decreasing gliosis and increasing radial glia and neural progenitor cells after spinal cord injury.

Brain Behav. 2014 Mar;4(2):187-200. doi: 10.1002/brb3.172. Epub 2014 Jan 13.

Masselink W, Wong JC, Liu B, Fu J, Currie PD.

Low-cost silicone imaging casts for zebrafish embryos and larvae.

Zebrafish. 2014 Feb;11(1):26-31. doi: 10.1089/zeb.2013.0897. Epub 2013 Nov 15.

Siegel AL, Gurevich DB, Currie PD.

A myogenic precursor cell that could contribute to regeneration in zebrafish and its similarity to the satellite cell.

FEBS J. 2013 Sep;280(17):4074-88. doi: 10.1111/febs.12300. Epub 2013 May 24.

Cole NJ, Hall TE, Don EK, Berger S, Boisvert CA, Neyt C, Ericsson R, Joss J, Gurevich DB, Currie PD.

Development and evolution of the muscles of the pelvic fin.

PLoS Biol. 2011 Oct;9(10):e1001168. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001168. Epub 2011 Oct 4.

Lieschke GJ, Currie PD.

Animal models of human disease: zebrafish swim into view.

Nat Rev Genet. 2007 May;8(5):353-67.

Hollway GE, Bryson-Richardson RJ, Berger S, Cole NJ, Hall TE, Currie PD.

Whole-somite rotation generates muscle progenitor cell compartments in the developing zebrafish embryo.

Dev Cell. 2007 Feb;12(2):207-19.

Daggett DF, Boyd CA, Gautier P, Bryson-Richardson RJ, Thisse C, Thisse B, Amacher SL, Currie PD.

Developmentally restricted actin-regulatory molecules control morphogenetic cell movements in the zebrafish gastrula.

Curr Biol. 2004 Sep 21;14(18):1632-8.

Cortes F, Daggett D, Bryson-Richardson RJ, Neyt C, Maule M, Gautier P, Hollway GE, Keenan D, Currie PD.

Cadherin-mediated differential cell adhesion controls slow muscle migration in the developing zebrafish myotome.

Dev Cell. 2003 Dec;5(6):865-76.

Neyt C, Jagla K, Thisse C, Thisse B, Haines L, Currie PD.

Evolutionary origins of vertebrate appendicular muscle.

Nature. 2000 Nov 2;408(6808):82-6.