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 An important challenge in neurobiology is to understand how neurons are born and differentiate into
specific neuronal types to form a coherent, functioning nervous system. Our laboratory is interested
in exploring these events during development of the vertebrate neural retina. We are interested in
several major questions: How is the early development of the eye regulated? How is the proliferation
of retinal progenitors regulated? How are specific retinal neuron cell types generated? We are using
a variety of approaches to understand which molecules are important in regulating these processes.We have focused on the role of basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors as key regulators of retinal neuron differentiation and of cell cycle exit. In addition, we have been exploring how secreted signaling molecules of the Wnt family act through Frizzled receptors to regulate patterning of the eye as well as retinal proliferation and differentiation. To explore the function of these various molecular pathways during vertebrate eye development we use both Xenopus laevis and mouse as model systems. In Xenopus we can use a variety of techniques, including transgenesis to target expression of genes to specific stages of eye development and assay their function. In mouse, we can take advantage of the ability to disrupt gene function to assess the requirement for specific genes in the developing eye. In addition to our focus on retinal development, we have begun to examine the molecular events that lead to progressive retinal ganglion cell loss in glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness. For this work we are participating in a research consortium called Catalyst for a Cure that is funded by the Glaucoma Research Foundation and the Steven and Michele Kirsch Foundation. |
