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Stephen C. Mcloon, Principal Investigator

Eph Receptor Tyrosine Kinases and Development of the Pattern of Connections in the Visual System

Axons of retinal ganglion cells connect to cells in the visual centers of the brain in a precise, stereotypical pattern. This pattern of connections is essential for normal visual function. The goal of this project is to further understand how the proper pattern of connections develops between retinal axons and the central visual centers. This project is guided by the hypothesis that the pattern of retinal connections in the brain is established in part due to interactions between sets of cytochemical positional labels carried by the retinal axons and by the cells in the target centers to which the axons connect. This project is a continuing effort by this laboratory to identify these positional labels. Available evidence suggests that gradients of specific Eph receptor tyrosine kinases expressed across the retina could be involved in detecting positional labels in the central visual centers. The role of these receptors in development of the visual system has never been directly tested. The overall aim of this project is to determine the role of members of the Eph subfamily of receptor tyrosine kinases in development of the normal pattern of retinotectal connections. In general, the approach to this project is altering the expression by retinal cells of specific receptors and then studying the resulting pattern of retinotectal conncections in developing chick embryos.

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