Research
Role of serotonin in anxiety and mood disorders; human gene variants and serotonin transporter function; voltammetry; microdialysis; nanobiosensors
Appointments
- Assistant Professor, Neuroscience IDP
- Neurobiology
- Member, ACCESS Program: Dept. of Neurobiology
- JCCC Cancer and Stem Cell Biology Program Area
- Neuroscience IDP
- Brain Research Institute
- Eli & Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine & Stem Cell Research
- Faculty, Molecular Biology IDP
Biography
Our research is currently focused on defining the signals that instruct stem and progenitor cells in the embryonic spinal cord to form three essential classes of neurons and glial cells needed for locomotion: spinal motor neurons and interneurons, which control the movement of muscles in the body, and oligodendrocytes, which insulate CNS axons.
Our main objectives are to identify the extracellular signals in developing embryos that instruct stem and progenitor cells to form these and other cell types in the central nervous system, ascertain how these signals regulate the expression and activity of transcription factors within stem and progenitor cells, and ultimately determine how these transcription factors control the division, differentiation, and identity of neurons and glia.
Insights into these fundamental mechanisms are essential for determining the function of stem and progenitor cells in normal development and in diseased states, as well as for developing methods to manipulate stem and progenitor cells to direct the generation of specific types of neurons and glial cells and facilitate the repair of damaged neural circuits.
Publications
- Gupta, S, Heinrichs, E, Novitch, BG, Butler, SJ. Investigating the basis of lineage decisions and developmental trajectories in the dorsal spinal cord through pseudotime analyses. Development. 2024;151 (10):. doi: 10.1242/dev.202209. PubMed PMID:38804879 PubMed Central PMC11166460.
- Buth, JE, Dyevich, CE, Rubin, A, Wang, C, Gao, L, Marks, T et al.. Foxp1 suppresses cortical angiogenesis and attenuates HIF-1alpha signaling to promote neural progenitor cell maintenance. EMBO Rep. 2024;25 (5):2202-2219. doi: 10.1038/s44319-024-00131-8. PubMed PMID:38600346 PubMed Central PMC11094073.
- Gupta, S, Heinrichs, E, Novitch, BG, Butler, SJ. Investigating the basis of lineage decisions and developmental trajectories in the dorsal spinal cord through pseudotime analyses. bioRxiv. 2024; :. doi: 10.1101/2023.07.24.550380. PubMed PMID:37546781 PubMed Central PMC10402035.
- Stearns-Reider, KM, Hicks, MR, Hammond, KG, Reynolds, JC, Maity, A, Kurmangaliyev, YZ et al.. Myoscaffolds reveal laminin scarring is detrimental for stem cell function while sarcospan induces compensatory fibrosis. NPJ Regen Med. 2023;8 (1):16. doi: 10.1038/s41536-023-00287-2. PubMed PMID:36922514 PubMed Central PMC10017766.
- Li, J, Godoy, MI, Zhang, AJ, Diamante, G, Ahn, IS, Cebrian-Silla, A et al.. Prdm16 and Vcam1 regulate the postnatal disappearance of embryonic radial glia and the ending of cortical neurogenesis. bioRxiv. 2023; :. doi: 10.1101/2023.02.14.528567. PubMed PMID:36824905 PubMed Central PMC9949035.