A Model of Cellular Pattern Formation in the Growing Retina

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The precise spatial patterns of cells in the nervous system help to determine the types of neuronal computations that are performed. The mechanisms that control the formation of these crucial cellular patterns, however, are poorly understood. The ultimate goal of this project is to identify and characterize the mechanisms that control cellular pattern formation in the growing central nervous system. Using the retina as a model system, a multidisciplinary combination of empirical and computational modeling techniques will be used to work toward this goal. Specifically, predictions arising from a computational model of cellular pattern formation, the key component of which is a signaling pathway that controls the time and location of cell births during retinal development and growth will be tested. Many structures within the body are organized non-randomly at the cellular level, so this project is expected to provide general insights into how the body is assembled during development. This project involves an integrative combination of cellular, computational, and quantitative analysis techniques. The investigators include a neuroscientist, and a biomedical engineer, and the project thus serves as a model for how the disparate methods and approaches can be brought together into a cohesive effort to address a general problem of developmental biology. There will be active participation of a neuroscience graduate student and bioengineering undergraduate students. We intend for this project to provide students with the confidence to pursue future research projects that involve novel, multidisciplinary approaches.