I. mechanisms of cortical neurogenesis

One of our research interests is to elucidate signal transduction mechanisms that regulate the fate of neural stem cells, i.e. what makes a neural stem cell proliferate and differentiate into neurons or glia in the mammalian brain. We are interested in neural stem cell regulation both during development and in adult neurogenesis. Specifically, recent studies in our lab suggest a novel role for the extracellular-signal-regulated kinase 5 (ERK5) MAP kinase in regulating the fate choice of cortical stem cells during development. The elucidation of molecular mechanisms that regulate neural progenitor cell proliferation and differentiation is important for an understanding of neural developmental and neurodegenerative diseases. Furthermore, stem cell-based cell replacement therapy offers enormous potential for the treatment of a variety of developmental, psychiatric, neurodegenerative and aging related diseases for which there are currently no cures. Moreover, environmental toxicants may cause developmental neurotoxicity by perturbing these signaling mechanisms that regulate neurogenesis.

II. MECHANISMS FOR REGULATION OF NEURONAL APOPTOSIS 

Our laboratory is also interested in molecular mechanisms and signal transduction pathways that regulate neuronal survival and cell death. It has become increasingly evident that many environmental toxicants might contribute to the development of neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and Alzheimer's disease. Our recent effort has focused on elucidating signaling mechanisms that regulate dopaminergic neuron cell death in relation to Parkinson’s disease using exposure to several pesticides as model systems. It is our hope that these mechanistic studies may ultimately lead to the development of pharmacological interventions and clinical strategies for treatment of Parkinson’s disease. These studies may also provide insights concerning the relationships between environmental toxicants and the etiology of neurodegenerative disorders.