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Title: The Role of the SOXB1 Family of Transcription Factors in Neural Proliferation and Development (Advisor: Dr. Larysa Pevny - Sponsor: Dr. Ted Salmon)
I am studying genes that control the
proliferation of embryonic stem cells in the developing neural tube. In
particular, I am studying the SoxB1 family of genes, Sox1, Sox2, and
Sox3, that are turned on early in development when stem cells in the
neural tube are still dividing, and turned off once those cells
differentiate into specific types of neurons that are committed to establishing distinct cell lineages and various structures of
the adult nervous system. In my
experiments, I am using the chick embryo, a model organism that is easy to manipulate during its early
development while it is still in
the egg, and the neural development of which is analogous to
that of the human. I am working on blocking the function of the Sox
genes in the neural tube of the
chick and observing whether the affected neural
stem cells stop dividing and become committed neural progenitors as a
result of the loss of Sox function. I am hoping that my experiments
will help to elucidate the mechanisms that cause embryonic stem cells in the
nervous system to retain their proliferative capacity, which may be
applied to the study of adult neural stem cells and hopefully the
development of stem cell therapies for damage and diseases of the
nervous system. |
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