About
Prof. Ben-Tabou de-Leon obtained a PhD in theoretical physics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She then transitioned to the field of developmental and evolutionary biology, receiving the Rothschild fellowship and the Human Frontiers fellowship to do post-doctoral research at Caltech (USA).
In her lab she uses the sea urchin embryo to decipher the biological regulation of embryo development. Her lab discovered that the genetic program that drives sea urchin embryonic skeletogenesis is similar to the genetic program that humans use to build their blood vessels, during normal development and in cancer progression. The remarkable compatibility of human and sea urchin proteins demonstrates the great potential of utilizing the sea urchin embryo for the development of novel therapeutic approaches.
Prof. Ben-Tabou de-Leon is an associate editor of Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution and Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology.
Publications
- Possible role of microtubules in vesicular transport of matrix protein during sea urchin larval biomineralization, Qassem, A., Gildor, T. & de-Leon, S. B. T., Jun 2026, In: Developmental Dynamics. 255, 6, p. 585-601 17 p.
- Skeletogenic Expression of Integrin Alpha, Talin and Npnt Genes and Npnt Role in Sea Urchin Skeletogenesis, Chen, S., Gildor, T., Tewari, P. & Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S., Jan 2026, In: Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B: Molecular and Developmental Evolution. 346, 1, p. 7-19 13 p.
- Regulatory feedback between VEGF and ERK pathways controls tip-cell expression during sea urchin skeletogenesis, Nehrer, T., Gildor, T., Layous, M. & Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S., Jul 2025, In: Development (Cambridge). 152, 13, dev204684.
- A mechanosensitive circuit of FAK, ROCK, and ERK controls biomineral growth and morphology in the sea urchin embryo, Layous, M., Gildor, T., Nehrer, T., Qassem, A., Wolfenson, H. & Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S., 7 Jan 2025, In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 122, 1, e2408628121.
- קיפוד סגול מצוי ותרומתו להבנת השפעת הסביבה על התפתחות עוברית של בעלי חיים ימיים, בן טבו דה לאון, ס., 2025, הוד הים: איתנות ותמורות במערכות הימיות של ישראל. סטמבלר, נ. (ed.). חיפה: העמותה הישראלית למדעי הימים, p. 449-462 14 p.
- Expression and Transcriptional Targets of TGFβ-RII in Paracentrotus lividus Larval Skeletogenesis, Goloe, D., Gildor, T. & Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S., Aug 2024, In: Genesis (United States). 62, 4, e23614.
- ROCK and the actomyosin network control biomineral growth and morphology during sea urchin skeletogenesis, Hijaze, E., Gildor, T., Seidel, R., Layous, M., Winter, M., Bertinetti, L., Politi, Y. & Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S., 4 Apr 2024, In: eLife. 12
- Editorial: Women in evolutionary developmental biology 2023, Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S. & Arnone, M. I., 2024, In: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 12, 1464506.
- Analysis of the P. lividus sea urchin genome highlights contrasting trends of genomic and regulatory evolution in deuterostomes, Marlétaz, F., Couloux, A., Poulain, J., Labadie, K., Da Silva, C., Mangenot, S., Noel, B., Poustka, A. J., Dru, P., Pegueroles, C., Borra, M., Lowe, E. K., Lhomond, G., Besnardeau, L., Le Gras, S., Ye, T., Gavriouchkina, D., Russo, R., Costa, C. & Zito, F. & 26 others, , 12 Apr 2023, In: Cell Genomics. 3, 4, 100295.
- Transcriptional responses indicate acclimation to prolonged deoxygenation in the coral Stylophora pistillata, Kvitt, H., Malik, A., Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S., Shemesh, E., Lalzar, M., Gruber, D. F., Rosenfeld, H., Shi, T., Mass, T. & Tchernov, D., 2 Dec 2022, In: Frontiers in Marine Science. 9, 999558.
- Distinct regulatory states control the elongation of individual skeletal rods in the sea urchin embryo, Tarsis, K., Gildor, T., Morgulis, M. & Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S., Aug 2022, In: Developmental Dynamics. 251, 8, p. 1322-1339 18 p.
- The Evolution of Biomineralization through the Co-Option of Organic Scaffold Forming Networks, Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S., 2022, In: Cells. 11, 4, 595.
- The biological regulation of sea urchin larval skeletogenesis – From genes to biomineralized tissue, Gildor, T., Winter, M. R., Layous, M., Hijaze, E. & Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S., Dec 2021, In: Journal of Structural Biology. 213, 4, 107797.
- VEGF signaling activates the matrix metalloproteinases, MmpL7 and MmpL5 at the sites of active skeletal growth and MmpL7 regulates skeletal elongation, Morgulis, M., Winter, M. R., Shternhell, L., Gildor, T. & Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S., May 2021, In: Developmental Biology. 473, p. 80-89 10 p.
- The tolerance to hypoxia is defined by a time-sensitive response of the gene regulatory network in sea urchin embryos, Layous, M., Khalaily, L., Gildor, T. & de-Leon, S. B. T., Apr 2021, In: Development (Cambridge). 148, 8, dev195859.
- Calcium-vesicles perform active diffusion in the sea urchin embryo during larval biomineralization, Winter, M. R., Morgulis, M., Gildor, T., Cohen, A. R. & de-Leon, S. B. T., 22 Feb 2021, In: PLOS Computational Biology. 17, 2, e1008780.
- Developmental transcriptomes of the sea star, Patiria miniata, illuminate how gene expression changes with evolutionary distance, Gildor, T., Cary, G. A., Lalzar, M., Hinman, V. F. & Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S., 1 Dec 2019, In: Scientific Reports. 9, 1, 16201.
- Possible cooption of a VEGF-driven tubulogenesis program for biomineralization in echinoderms, Morgulis, M., Gildor, T., Roopin, M., Sher, N., Malik, A., Lalzar, M., Dines, M., Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S., Khalaily, L. & Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S., 2019, In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 116, 25, p. 12353-12362 10 p.
- Corrigendum: Comparative Studies of Gene Expression Kinetics: Methodologies and Insights on Development and Evolution (Frontiers in Genetics, (2018), 9, (339) 10.3389/fgene.2018.00339), Gildor, T. & Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S., 7 Dec 2018, In: Frontiers in Genetics. 9, 631.
- Comparative studies of gene expression kinetics: Methodologies and insights on development and evolution, Gildor, T. & Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S., 22 Aug 2018, In: Frontiers in Genetics. 9, AUG, 339.
- The network remains, Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S., 1 Dec 2017, In: History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences. 39, 4, 32.
- Parallel embryonic transcriptional programs evolve under distinct constraints and may enable morphological conservation amidst adaptation, Malik, A., Gildor, T., Sher, N., Layous, M. & Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S., 1 Oct 2017, In: Developmental Biology. 430, 1, p. 202-213 12 p.
- Regulatory heterochronies and loose temporal scaling between sea star and sea urchin regulatory circuits, Gildor, T., Hinman, V. & Ben-Tabou-De-Leon, S., 2017, In: International Journal of Developmental Biology. 61, 3-5, p. 347-356 10 p.
- Mature maternal mRNAs are longer than zygotic ones and have complex degradation kinetics in sea urchin, Gildor, T., Malik, A., Sher, N. & Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S., 1 Jun 2016, In: Developmental Biology. 414, 1, p. 121-131 11 p.
- Quantitative developmental transcriptomes of the Mediterranean sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus, Gildor, T., Malik, A., Sher, N., Avraham, L. & Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S., 1 Feb 2016, In: Marine Genomics. 25, p. 89-94 6 p.
- Robustness and Accuracy in Sea Urchin Developmental Gene Regulatory Networks, Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S., 2016, In: Frontiers in Genetics. 7, FEB, p. 16 1 p., 16.
- Comparative Study of Regulatory Circuits in Two Sea Urchin Species Reveals Tight Control of Timing and High Conservation of Expression Dynamics, Gildor, T. & Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S., 1 Jul 2015, In: PLOS Genetics. 11, 7, e1005435.
- Gene regulatory control in the sea urchin aboral ectoderm: Spatial initiation, signaling inputs, and cell fate lockdown, Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S., Su, Y. H., Lin, K. T., Li, E. & Davidson, E. H., 1 Feb 2013, In: Developmental Biology. 374, 1, p. 245-254 10 p.
- The conserved role and divergent regulation of foxa, a pan-eumetazoan developmental regulatory gene, De-Leon, S. B. T., 1 Sep 2011, In: Developmental Biology. 357, 1, p. 21-26 6 p.
- Perturbation analysis analyzed-mathematical modeling of intact and perturbed gene regulatory circuits for animal development, Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S., Aug 2010, In: Developmental Biology. 344, 2, p. 1110-1118 9 p.
- Information Processing at the foxa Node of the Sea Urchin Endomesoderm Specification Network, Davidson, E. H. & Ben-Tabou De-Leon, S., 2010, In: PNAS. 107, 22, p. 10103-10108 6 p.
- Modeling the dynamics of transcriptional gene regulatory networks for animal development, Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S. & Davidson, E. H., 15 Jan 2009, In: Developmental Biology. 325, 2, p. 317-328 12 p.
- Experimentally Based Sea Urchin Gene Regulatory Network and the Causal Explanation of Developmental Phenomenology, Ben-Tabou De-Leon, S. & Davidson, E. H., 2009, In: Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Systems Biology and Medicine. 1, 2, p. 237-246 10 p.
- Gene regulation: Gene control network in development, Ben-Tabou De-Leon, S. & Davidson, E. H., 9 Jun 2007, In: Annual Review of Biophysics and Biomolecular Structure. 36, p. 191-212 22 p.
- The regulatory genome and the computer, Istrail, S., Ben-Tabou De-Leon, S. & Davidson, E. H., 2007, In: Developmental Biology. 310, 2, p. 187-195 9 p.
- Deciphering the underlying mechanism of specification and differentiation: the sea urchin gene regulatory network., Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S. & Davidson, E. H., 14 Nov 2006, In: Science's STKE : signal transduction knowledge environment. 2006, 361, p. pe47
- Porous silicon substrates for neurons culturing and bio-photonic sensing, Ben-Tabou De-Leon, S., Oren, R., Spira, M. E., Korbakov, N., Yitzchaik, S. & Sa'ar, A., 2005, In: Physica Status Solidi (A) Applied Research. 202, 8, p. 1456-1461 6 p.
- Neurons culturing and biophotonic sensing using porous silicon, Ben-Tabou De Léon, S., Sa'ar, A., Oren, R., Spira, M. E. & Yitzchaik, S., 31 May 2004, In: Applied Physics Letters. 84, 22, p. 4361-4363 3 p.
- Mott transition, biexciton crossover, and spin ordering in the exciton gas in quantum wells, Ben-Tabou de-Leon, S. & Laikhtman, B., 17 Jun 2003, In: Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics. 67, 23
- The spin structure of quasi-two-dimensional biexcitons in quantum wells, Ben-Tabou De-Leon, S. & Laikhtman, B., Sep 2002, In: Europhysics Letters. 59, 5, p. 728-734 7 p.
- Phase Diagram of Quasi 2 Dimensional Electron-Hole Gas in Quantum Wells, Ben-Tabou De-Leon, S. & Laikhtman, B., 2002, In: Physica Status Solidi (A) Applied Research. 190, p. 689-692
- Exciton-exciton interactions in quantum wells: Optical properties and energy and spin relaxation, Ben-Tabou De-Leon, S. & Laikhtman, B., 7 Mar 2001, In: Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics. 63, 12
- Band Structure of Coupled InAs/GaSb Quantum Wells, Ben-Tabou De-Leon, S., Shvartsman, L. D. & Laikhtman, B., 1999, In: Physical Review. B, 60, p. 1861-1870 10 p.
- InAs/GaSb Interfaces, the Problem of Boundary Conditions, Ben-Tabou De-Leon, S., Laikhtman, B. & Shvartsman, L. D., 1998, In: Journal of Physics Condensed Matter. 10, 39, p. 8715-8729 15 p.
- Energy Spectrum of InAs/GaSb Heterostructures, Ben-Tabou De-Leon, S., Laikhtman, B. & Shvartsman, L. D., 1997, In: Solid State Communications. 104, 5, p. 257-262 6 p.
Research Areas
• Gene regulatory networks in embryonic development
• The relationship between gene regulatory networks and complex developmental processes
• Evolution of gene regulatory networks and morphological changes
• Molecular mechanisms underlying evolutionary innovations in body plan
• Specification, differentiation and morphogenesis in sea urchin embryos
• Integration of high-throughput experimental techniques with mathematical modeling
• Biomineralization and cross-organism comparative