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The vertebrate nervous system includes many different classes of neurons, each exhibiting characteristic neurotransmitter receptors, ion channels, patterns of axonal growth, and synapse formation. Producing this cellular diversity during brain development is, in part, an enormous problem of gene regulation. We are engaged in studies of transcription factors of the homeodomain family that bind to DNA and activate or repress gene expression in specific classes of neurons. We use a variety of approaches to understanding the regulation of brain development. First, we use biochemical methods to characterize the target DNA binding sites of neural transcription factors and coordinate these findings with sequence data from the mouse and human genomes. Second, we manipulate the expression of regulatory genes in living chick embryos using microsurgery and electroporation, and in transgenic mice using targeted gene expression, and study the effects of these manipulations on neural marker genes, axonal growth, and cell survival. Third, we use array-based analysis of gene expression (“GeneChips”) and information from the mouse and human genome projects to understand the coordinated regulation of gene expression in the nervous system. Thus, interesting rotation projects are available using methods ranging from biochemistry to embryology.

Track(s):
Genetics
MCB

BMS Focus Areas:
Neurobiology


Developmental Biology