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Professional Experience
Teaching
Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program Track
Basic Science Research Focus Group
Education
Research Interests Molecular basis of synapse formation My
primary research interest is to understand molecular signals that
cause formation and differentiation of synapses during embryonic
development. This work is focused on the embryonic neuromuscular
junction (NMJ). Currently we are using the frog embryo Xenopus
laevis to study development of nerve-muscle synapses. Much of
my past work has focused on agrin, a protein released from motor
nerve terminals that directs the formation and organization of
the postsynaptic apparatus of the skeletal muscle cell at the
NMJ. Agrin works through several proteins in muscle cells, including
its receptor, muscle-specific kinase, and alpha-dystroglycan.
We are using RNA and DNA injection and making transgenic embryos
to overexpress and misexpress these proteins during synapse formation,
in order to better understand their role in development of the
embryonic synapse.
Another interest is identifying and characterizing signaling molecules from muscle cells that direct the organization of motor nerve terminals. This new direction may involve DNA microarray and proteomic approaches to identifying these molecules. Our work relates to neuromuscular diseases, especially Duchenne muscular dystrophy, in which the protein dystrophin is missing or mutated. The agrin-binding protein dystroglycan is part of a dystrophin-associated complex in the muscle cell membrane. Dystrophin and dystroglycan may also be involved in organizing synapses in the brain, since these proteins are concentrated at these synapses, and many muscular dystrophy patients suffer from learning disabilities. Selected Publications
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Revised: April 18, 2008 |
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