Function of neuronal CAM-receptors in brain development and neuronal wiring

Understanding how billions of neurons get precisely interconnected via axons during development of the central nervous system (CNS) is one of the most fascinating but also highly complex problems in neuroscience. It poses also a big challenge in attempts of understanding the synaptic defects underlying neurological diseases such as autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, and others. Cell surface receptors including Cell Adhesion Molecule receptors (CAM-receptors) play an important role regulating neuronal wiring. CAM-receptors are transmembrane proteins of the Cadherin and IG-SF with important functions in cell-cell adhesion and recognition, neural development and many other developmental processes. We propose to study the cellular and molecular mechanisms of how structural diversity and recognition specificity of CAM-receptors is linked to the regulation of axonal growth and branching during neuronal wiring. We will use new genome engineering tools to generate knock-out and knock-in models in X. tropicalis tadpoles where neuronal development can be directly (outside the mother) observed. This project aims to discover novel mechanism of CAM-receptors that have important roles in neurodevelopmental diseases.