Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

"Cell fate determination in the central nervous system (CNS) is a highly regulated process in which dividing multipotent progenitor cells differentiate to give rise to post-mitotic neurons. While much is known about how general different cell classes are formed, little is known about development of specific neuronal subtypes that comprise distinct neuronal classes. The extent of the effect of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on cell fate determination is still debated. The retina is an ideal system to investigate neuronal differentiation in the CNS. It is a relatively simple and experimentally accessible tissue comprised of 6 different cell types, all of which originate from retinal progenitor cells and have different but overlapping birth times. Bipolar cells are postnatally-born interneurons that convey information from photoreceptors to retinal ganglion cells. So far, there are 15 different subtypes of bipolar cells but not much is known about how they develop. In my project, I will use various transgenic mice lines, immunostaining and retinal dissociation experiments to visualize the expression of mature bipolar cell markers at different developmental stages and discover how retinal progenitor cells become fully specified bipolar cell subtypes. The implications of neural development on human health issues are important. Defects during development can result in various neurological disorders with highly detrimental effects for those who suffer them. Understanding the mechanisms underlying cell type differentiation is necessary for the rationale design of future treatments and prevention of such disorders. "