Grant: Operating Grant

A complex genetic circuitry is necessary to establish the wide variety of cells that make up the brain. Little is known about the mechanisms through which a seemingly homogenous population of precursor cells differentiate into neurons that differ in their location in the brain and in the connections that they make with other neurons. My laboratory studies a family of genes, the Dlx genes, which play important roles during development of the embryos of a large number of animal species. They are parts of genetic cascades taking place during development to determine the different cell types and the patterning of the embryo, notably in specific areas of the brain. Our central hypothesis is that the four Dlx genes involved in brain development have distinct roles associated with the development of specific cell populations. By creating mutations that interfere with the mechanisms that control Dlx expression and function, we will unravel some of genetic pathways that lead to the formation of distinct types of neurons in the anterior part of the brain of vertebrates. Our research will help us better understand how genes control the formation of the various classes of neurons that constitute the mature brain.