Glial Patterning · The genetic basis for glial differentiation in the developing zebrafish retina.

The genetic basis for glial differentiation in the developing zebrafish retina.

For more than 150 years glia have been recognised as a significant constituent of neural tissue, but their role as chief regulators of nervous system development and function has only recently emerged. In recent years it has become clear that glia have an essential role in maintaining a healthy brain. Glial defects are now commonly associated with neurological disease including autism, schizophrenia, neurodegeneration and chronic pain. Linkage studies have found many gliopathy genes, but our understanding of how any of these genes function in glia or the nervous system is unknown. With so little known about glial genes, the goal of this project is to enhance our understanding of glial differentiation with a focus on conserved genetic programs. This research will is done using a combination of comparative genomics; novel reverse genetic screening and glial physiology studies with the goal of improving our understanding of the glia differentiation process. In the upcoming years, this research program will expand to include studies in glial differentiation, glial physiology and developing animal models of human glial disease. The overall objectives of this study were: 1) To defining the retinal glia differentiation temporally. The morphological and physiological changes that retinal glia go through over the course of their development have not yet been defined. Here we carefully documented the retinal glial differentiation over time to test the if glial differentiation can be temporally segregated into distinct developmental stages. 2) To develop a candidate CRISPR screen to identify factors and generate stable mutant lines to comprehensively document their developmental functions in MG and their requirement for retinal glial patterning. 3) To generate the first temporal transcriptomic analysis of glial cell population over the course of their development and in turn, provide novel insights into the distinct regulatory networks control retinal glial patterning during development.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз