PAST: A complex organism begins with a small
number of cells that have the potential to give rise to all
the cell types represented in the mature organism. As development
proceeds there is a simultaneous increase in cell number and
specialization of cell type. Thus, restriction, the inability
to alter ones identity in response to a set of environmental
signals, must occur during development and lineage divergence.
It was my goal to define the molecular mechanisms and cellular
changes that are responsible for cell fate restriction. I
defined a developmental stage when lineage restriction occurs
in rat enteric and sympathetic neural precursors. In order
to identify the critical molecular events responsible for
restriction, it is necessary to understand the cellular changes
that take place during enteric and sympathetic neuronal development.
I have examined the effects of purified biological molecules
implicated in peripheral neuronal development and complex
profiles of environmental signals on isolated neural precursors.
Together, these studies help us to understand the molecules
and developmental programs that direct lineage divergence,
neuronal maturation and phenotypic restriction in the peripheral
nervous system.
PRESENT: The archie mutation
increases retinal ganglion cell death; archie mutant
zebrafish die before the full impact of this mutation can
be defined. Eye transplantation will provide information about
what types of ganglion cells are affected in the archie
mutant and how this depletion impacts on development and wiring
of the retina.
Publications
Pisano, J.M.
and Birren, S.J. (1999) Restriction of developmental potential
during divergence of the enteric and sympathetic neuronal
lineages. Development 126:2855-2868.
Lockhart, S.T., Mead, J.M., Pisano,
J.M., Slonimsky, J.D. and Birren, S.J. (2000) Nerve
growth factor collaborates with myocyte derived factors to
promote development of presynaptic sites in cultured sympathetic
neurons. J. Neuro. Bio. 42: 460-476.
Worley, D.W.,
Pisano, J.M*., Choi, E.D., Walus, L., Hession, C.A.,
Cate, R.L., Sanicola, M. and Birren, S.J. (2000) Developmental
regulation of GDNF response and receptor expression in the
enteric nervous system. Development 127: 4383-4393.
Pisano, J.M.,
Colon, F. and Birren, S.J. (2000) Post-migratory enteric and
sympathetic neural precursors share common, developmentally
regulated, responses to BMP2. Dev. Bio. 227: 1-11.
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