Transcriptional regulators of dendrite development

描述(申请人提供)：由于枝晶发育尚未得到广泛研究，有关枝晶发育的一些基本问题仍有待回答。下面描述的研究将集中在以下两个问题上：(1)什么因素控制着特定类别的树突的不同形态？(2)不同的因素或信号转导途径是否调节树突发育的不同方面？由于转录因子可能是树突发育的多个方面的调控因子，而果蝇PNS是树突发育的遗传分析的一个有吸引力的模型系统，所以我将以果蝇为模型系统来研究树突发育的转录调控。重要的是，果蝇PNS由多类神经元组成，具有不同的树突分支模式，因此这些研究应该有助于识别以细胞类型特异性方式指定树突发育的因素。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Because dendrite development has not yet been extensively studied, a number of fundamental questions about dendrite development still need to be answered. The studies described below will focus on the following two questions: (1) What factors control the distinct morphology of a given class of dendrites? (2) Do distinct factors or signal transduction pathways regulate different aspects of dendrite development? Since transcription factors are likely regulators of multiple aspects of dendrite development and the Drosophila PNS is an attractive model system for genetic analysis of dendrite development I will study transcriptional regulation of dendrite development using Drosophila as a model system. Importantly, the Drosophila PNS is composed of multiple classes of neurons with distinct characteristic dendritic branching patterns so these studies should facilitate identification of factors which specify dendrite development in a cell type-specific fashion.