New approaches to study conserved roles of Protocadherin receptor diversity in neuronal migration and wiring

Protocadherins (PCDH) are large transmembrane proteins with tentative functions in cell-cell recognition, neural development and cancer metastasis. Besides studying the role of clustered PCDH in neuronal wiring, and neuronal as well as neural crest migration, our research proposal aims to establish a novel experimental system that will enable us to achieve a mechanistic understanding of how the recognition specificity of PCDHs is linked to the regulation of cell migration and neuronal wiring. We will use new genome engineering tools to study isoform-specific interactions and distributions in two animal model systems: X. tropicalis for studying neural crest migration and neuronal wiring and the mouse for investigating interneuron migration. This project will combine the expertise on cell-cell recognition of the Schmucker team in Xenopus and Drosophila with the cell migration expertise of the Seuntjens team in mouse in order to discover the mechanism of action of the elusive family of clustered PCDH proteins, impo rtant in neurodevelopmental psychiatric diseases and cancer.

Keywords:neuronal migration

Disciplines:Animal biology, General biology