The overall goal of this laboratory is to understand the mechanisms controlling gene expression in the nervous system.
Neurons share many common functions but differ in two major ways.
First, each neuron makes a unique set of connections with the other neurons and target tissues. Second, different sets of neurons express distinct combinations of classical neurotransmitters, neuropeptide modulators, and receptors. The genes encoding different neurotransmitter systems, therefore provide important models for understanding differential gene expression in the nervous system. We first cloned cDNAs and genomic sequences encoding two related neuropeptides, neurotensin and neuromedin N, and we are currently using this gene to understand the regulatory pathways that set the complex pattern of expression of the gene throughout the limbic regions of the central nervous system. Several lines of evidence suggest that multiple environmental factors including estrogen, dopamine, and glucocorticoids are involved in region-specific expression of the gene.