molecular biology

We are interested in mechanisms of neuronal death during stroke and other neurodegenerative disorders. Currently, the focus is on a large ion channel called Pannexin-1, which has properties similar to some gap junction channels. The main goals of the research are to understand how pannexin-1 is activated during stroke, to determine what the consequenses of its activation are, and to investigate its normal physiological roles. To do this, we use state-of-the-art techniques including molecular biology, patch-clamp electrophysiology and in vivo multi-photon microscopy.

My research program is focused on the study of the significance and regulation of local protein synthesis in axons, and the role that this process plays in nerve regeneration. Recently my collaborators and I discovered a novel relationship between axons and glial cells. It appeared that glial cells support axonal protein synthesis by "exporting" translational machinery (ribosomes) and transcripts to axons. I aim to investigate the significance of this process for nerve regeneration and to elucidate the signalling mechanisms that drive the transfer of ribosomes into the axons of regenerating axons. Understanding these mechanisms will allow us to stimulate nerve regeneration by intervening locally in the glial cell axon unit, an area that is much more accessible than the neuronal cell bodies that are presently the target of strategies to stimulate nerve regeneration. For my research I use state of the art molecular biological techniques, viral transfection and fluorescent and electron microscopic imaging methodologies.