The long-term goal of my research is to determine the genes that control nervous system connectivity. I am using zebrafish as a model system to address this question, and focusing on the spinal cord due to its relative simple structure and homology to higher vertebrates including humans. Several evolutionarily conserved classes of neurons are found in the zebrafish spinal cord, including commissural neurons, sensory neurons, and motoneurons. Commissural neurons connect the two halves of the nervous system and develop by responding to both attractive and repulsive signals, which allow them to cross the middle of the animal, called the midline. Sensory neurons project anterior and posterior in the spinal cord, while also projecting to the skin, elaborating extensive arbors. Finally, motoneuron cell bodies, positioned in the ventral spinal cord, project out of the spinal cord to the musculature. I am interested in the guidance cues that direct the pathfinding of these neuronal subtypes. To do this, I am using genetics, gene knockdown technology, and cell biology to study the mechanisms of neuron pathfinding and exploring potential novel roles for canonical guidance cues.
