Regulation and function of developmental control genes during cell type specification in the developing hypothalamus
Summary
The function and regulation of important developmental genes controlling differentiation of neuronal subpopulations in the hypothalamus shall be studied in the vertebrate model organism zebrafish. The regulation of the genes shall be dissected using bioinformatic tools and zebrafish transgenesis and stable transgenic zebrafish lines shall be established for anatomical and gene functional studies.
Supervisor(s)
Dr Silke Rinkwitz, Professor Thomas Becker
Research Location
Brain and Mind Research Institute
Program Type
Masters/PHD
Synopsis
The hypothalamus is a control centre for complex neuroendocrine secretion and as such regulates many important physiological processes in the body, for example energy homeostasis, blood pressure, circadian rhythms and growth. Further, through neuronal input from the medial prefrontal cortex, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis controls the response to stress, whereas the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis influences reproductive performance.
A failure in hypothalamic development has clinical relevance in obesity, growth retardation, stress response and psychiatric illnesses. Several transcription factor genes are important for the specification of neuroendocrine cell lineages and in the differentiation and maturation of these cells. We use the zebrafish as a vertebrate model system and its advantages in transgenesis and gene/neuron modulation to genetically dissect the functional phenotypes of the hypothalamus and to identify the role of specific genes during development and disease.
Additional Information
The project will be performed in an inspiring international scientific environment in the laboratory Prof. Thomas Becker: http://www.bmri.org.au/research/neurobiology-genomics/index.php. We recently moved our lab and zebrafish facility from Europe to Sydney and offer a generous working environment and state of the art techniques and equipment related to zebrafish developmental genetics.
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Keywords
hypothalamus, central nervous system, neuronal circuits, neuronal subpopulation, hormones, behavior, stress, growth, Development, Genetics, gene regulation, mutation, zebrafish, transgenesis.
Opportunity ID
The opportunity ID for this research opportunity is: 987
Other opportunities with Dr Silke Rinkwitz
- Functional analysis of genes implicated in hypothalamic obesity using zebrafish as a vertebrate developmental genetics model system
- Analysis of the genetic basis of neurodegenertative disorders in the vertebrate model organism zebrafish
Other opportunities with Professor Thomas Becker