Abstract
Glial cells have diverse functions in the vertebrate nervous system. To discover new genes essential for the development and function of glial cells, the speaker and his research group are using genetic and cellular approaches in zebrafish. In genetic screens, they have identified mutations that disrupt many genes with functions in microglia and myelinating glia (oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells). The speaker will present their analyses of some of these genes, including nlrc3-like, which has a role in inflammation and microglia development, xpr1, a phosphate exporter required in tissue macrophages, and a novel zinc finger protein that controls the migration and specification of oligodendroycte progenitor cells.
About the speaker
Prof William Talbot received his PhD in Biochemistry from Stanford University in 1993. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oregon. He had been faculty at the Skirball Institute of the New York University School of Medicine. He returned to Stanford in 1999, and is currently Professor of Developmental Biology.
Prof Talbot’s research focuses on the development and function of glial cells in the vertebrate nervous system. His main goals include using genetic approaches in zebrafish to discover new genes with essential functions in the glial cells that form the myelin sheath, which allows for rapid axonal conduction in vertebrates, and also identifying new genes that regulate microglia, which are specialized macrophages that are dedicated to the immune defense of the brain.
Prof Talbot received awards including the Pew Scholars Award in the Biomedical Sciences and the Rita Allen Foundation Scholars Award. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
|
