Yi-Rong Peng
University of California-Los Angeles, CA·Neuroscience
The retina, the light-sensing tissue at the back of the eye, is built in neat layers. Nerve-cell bodies sit in three layers, and their connections form in two layers in between.
- Fields
Neuroscience
Genetics
Biology
- Topics
retina
starburst amacrine cells
Fezf1
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2029
What they work on
- Determine how the transcription factor Fezf1 separates the dendrites of ON and OFF starburst amacrine cells into distinct layers, using image tracing of developing cells in conditional knockout mice and Fezf1 rescue by in utero electroporation.
- Map the gene-regulatory network controlled by Fezf1 in starburst amacrine cells by combining ATAC-seq, which finds open DNA regions, with RNA-seq.
- Test whether the repulsive signaling molecules Slit2, Nell2 and Robo2 keep the dendrites of ON and OFF starburst amacrine cells apart in the mouse retina.
- Determine how altered starburst amacrine cell layering redirects the dendrites of direction-selective ganglion cells but not other ganglion cell types, using genetic labeling, image tracing, RNA-seq and AAV-mediated gene manipulation.
More about the research
When neurons end up in the wrong place or wire up wrongly, vision can be impaired or lost. Scientists understand fairly well how neurons migrate to their layers. It is much less clear how the cells' positions shape which partners they connect with.
Why it matters
SACs underlie the eye's sense of motion direction and the reflex eye movements that track moving scenes. Their defects can cause nystagmus, involuntary eye movements. Knowing how one transcription factor sets neuron position and wiring reveals rules for building circuits. It could also inform future strategies to replace neurons or rescue visual defects by manipulating key transcription factors.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Matthew Veldman
Medical College of Wisconsin, WI·Neuroscience
Determine when srebf2, a master regulator of cholesterol production, is needed in zebrafish retinal ganglion cells for optic nerve regeneration, using srebf2 activity reporter lines.
Shahid Husain
Medical University of South Carolina, SC·Pharmacology
Determine how class I and IIb histone deacetylases (HDACs), enzymes that tighten DNA packaging, contribute to retinal ganglion cell death in rats with ocular hypertension (high eye pressure).
Samuel Wu
Baylor College of Medicine, TX·Neuroscience
Measure how electrical signals spread through the coupled network of rod photoreceptors, and how HCN ion channels shape this network behavior, using simultaneous multi-patch recordings.
The school
University of California-Los Angeles: 84 labs on PI Pages, $1.9B a year on research, 803 research doctorates a year.
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