RUI: Neurogenesis in adult brains: the vascular niche, glial progenitors, migratory streams and neuronal differentiation in the olfactory pathway of crustaceans

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This project focuses on the birth of new nerve cells (neurons) in the brains of adult organisms. Over the past decade it has been discovered that a variety of invertebrate and vertebrate species, including humans, incorporate new neurons into brain circuits during adult life; the processes underlying the production of these new neurons (neurogenesis) are not well understood. Adult neurogenesis in crustaceans (lobster, crayfish) can be used as a model system, and allows fundamental questions to be asked about basic underlying mechanisms. The entire cellular lineage that produces the new neurons in the olfactory pathway of the adult crustacean brain has been identified, and therefore targeted experiments on particular cells in this lineage can be conducted in order to explore the basic controls involved in neurogenesis. This project will examine the cellular and molecular properties of precursor cells that produce the new neurons, the migration of the precursors to the regions where they will differentiate, and the processes underlying the acquisition of neuronal properties by these adult-born cells. Cell biological methods will be used to explore, for example, the influence of hormones (e.g., serotonin) on the rate of the cell cycle of the precursor cells at the top of the lineage and to search for the molecules that guide cell migration. These studies will involve undergraduate students, who participate in scientific research as part of their education at Wellesley College. Hence, in addition to obtaining answers to fundamental questions related to the genesis of new neurons in adult brains, this project also is closely tied to educating students who will become scientists, teachers and clinicians.