The development and survival of neurons depends upon an intricate network of interactions between cells. The differentiation of each of the hundreds of cell types in the nervous system results from the expression of a specific set of genes in response to multiple extracellular and intracellular signals. The research in the Johnson lab is focused on vertebrate nervous system development during the transition from proliferating neural stem cells to differentiating neurons and glia. These studies involve understanding the regulation and function of the neural specific class of bHLH transcription factors. Alteration in function and expression of these factors results in disturbances of connectivity, imbalances in excitatory and inhibitory neuron formation, and loss of control of neural cell number. Our goals are to uncover processes initiating neural stem/progenitor cell differentiation, and to generate new models to study the molecular control of neural differentiation and specification throughout the nervous system. To attain these goals, we generate and utilize transgenic and mutant mouse models while using biochemistry, molecular biology, and genome wide efforts in transcription factor target identity to uncover novel regulatory mechanisms controlling neural development.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Developmental Neuroscience
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Henke, R. M., Meredith, D. M., Borromeo, M. D., Savage, T. K., and Johnson, J. E., "Ascl1 and Neurog2 form novel complexes and regulate Delta-like3 (Dll3) expression in the neural tube" Dev Biol, 328:529-540, 2009
Hori, K., Cholewa-Waclaw, J., Nakada, Y., Glasgow, S. M., Masui, T., Henke, R. M., Wildner, H., Martarelli, B., Beres, T. M., Epstein, J. A., Magneson, M. A., MacDonald, R. J., Birchmeier, C., and Johnson, J. E., "A Non-classical bHLH-Rbpj transcription factor complex is required for specification of GABAergic neurons independent of Notch signaling" Genes and Development, 22:166-178, 2008
Kim, E. J., Battiste, J., Nakagawa, Y., and Johnson, J. E., "Ascl1 (Mash1) lineage cells contribute to discrete cell populations in CNS architecture" Mol Cell Neurosci, 38:595-606, 2008
Kim, E. J., Leung, C. T., Reed, R. R., and Johnson, J. E., "In vivo Analysis of Ascl1 Defined Progenitors Reveals Distinct Developmental Dynamics during Adult Neurogenesis and Gliogenesis" Journal of Neuroscience, 27:12764-12774, 2007
Battiste, J., Helms, A. W., Kim, E. J., Savage, T. K., Lagace, D. C., Mandyam, C. D., Eisch, A. J., Miyoshi, G., and Johnson, J. E., "Ascl1 defines sequentially generated lineage restricted neuronal and oligodendrocyte precursor cells in the spinal cord" Development, 134:285-293, 2007
SIGNIFICANT PUBLICATIONS
Glasgow, S., Henke, R. M., Wright, C., MacDonald, R., and Johnson, J. E., "PTF1a determines GABAergic over glutamatergic neuronal cell fate in the spinal cord dorsal horn" Development, 132:5461-5469, 2005
Gowan, K., Helms, A. W., Hunsaker, T., Collisson, T., Ebert, P. J., Odom, R. and Johnson, J. E., "Cross-Inhibitory Activities of NGN1, NGN2 and MATH1 Allow Specification of Distinct Dorsal Interneurons" Neuron, 31:219-232, 2001
Helms, A. W., Abney, A., Ben-Arie, N., Zoghbi, H. Y. and Johnson, J. E., "Autoregulation and multiple enhancers control Math1 expression in the developing nervous system." Development, 127:1185-1196, 2000
Helms, A. W. and Johnson, J. E., "Progenitors of dorsal commissural interneurons are defined by MATH1 expression." Development, 125:919-928, 1998
Johnson, J. E., Birren, S. J. and Anderson, D. J., "Two rat homologues of Drosophila achaete-scute specifically expressed in neuronal precursors." Nature, 346:858-861, 1990
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