Summary

The long term goal of our lab is to decipher the rules governing brain development. We seek to decipher these rules by studying the development of the olfactory system in the fly. (For more details on the anatomy of the fly olfactory system, click on the "Fly" button in the navigation bar.) We believe that the rules that we will find are widely applicable to the development of other brains, including our own. Our research is divided into two broad areas: Axon Guidance and Glomerulus Development (Figs.1 and 2).

Axon Guidance

Olfactory neurons are born in the antenna and maxillary palp, while their target cells are born in the olfactory bulb (Fig.1). Hence, olfactory neurons and their postsynaptic targets are physically remote from one another. Olfactory axons therefore have to migrate over a long distance to find and precisely innervate their respective glomeruli. The mechanisms that direct the precise migration of axons are mysterious. One of our goals is to decipher the molecular and cellular mechanisms that guide the axons precisely to their target cells. Click on the "Axon" button in the navigation bar to learn more about our current projects on axon guidance.

Glomerulus Development

Upon reaching the olfactory bulb the axons form a unique spherical synaptic structure with the dendrites of the projection neurons, called a glomerulus (Fig.2). Initially, the terminal processes of adjacent axons overlap extensively. The same goes for the dendrites of the projection neurons. The processes of the pre- and postsynaptic cells form a loose featureless meshwork. Gradually the extraneous processes are withdrawn and the axons "glom" with the appropriate dendrites to form anatomically distinct glomeruli. Our goal is to understand the dialogue that takes place between the olfactory axons and projection neuron dendrites allowing them to pair up and condense. Click on the "Glomerulus" button in the navigation bar to learn more about our current porjects on glomerulus development