Research in my laboratory is focused on the mechanisms underlying brain development and function in Drosophila melanogaster and their relevance for our understanding of human congenital brain aberrations and neurodegeneration. The Drosophila gene eyeless, a Pax-6 homolog, is a crucial regulator during eye development. Its vertebrate counterparts also play an important role in eye development as witnessed by mutations in e.g. the human Pax-6 gene which are associated with the congenital aberration Aniridia. In addition, the fly and vertebrate Pax-6 genes are also expressed in the developing brain, suggestive of a possible function. The aim of the work in the lab is to understand at which levels during brain development eyeless is acting, what its specific functions are in e.g. proliferating neuroblasts and postmitotic neurons and how it is regulated.
Little information is available about glial cell function in the adult brain.
I am addressing this question by targeted deletion of glial cells in the adult and by the analysis of a gene that is specifically expressed in glial cells and likely involved in ionic homeostasis in the brain. A few genes have been identified that when mutated result in a neurodegenerative phenotype in the adult fly. A mutational analysis has been initiated to uncover more genes with a similar phenotype. In addition, work is in progress on the function of two genes for which a role in neuronal survival has been demonstrated. Furthermore, for some of the genes with a neurodegenerative phenotype in Drosophila , the mouse counterparts are being cloned.