Michael Granato
University of Pennsylvania, PA·Neuroscience
How does the nervous system adjust a fixed behavior to fit the situation, and how do injured nerve fibers in the spinal cord regrow? Both projects use larval zebrafish, small transparent fish that are well suited to genetics and imaging.
- Fields
Neuroscience
Genetics
Biology
- Topics
zebrafish
acoustic startle response
habituation
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Mar 2028
What they work on
- Identify the neuronal populations where three habituation genes act, using transgenic behavioral rescue in zebrafish mutants defective in acoustic startle habituation.
- Determine the signaling pathways through which AP2s1, a protein needed for receptor uptake into cells, and the huntingtin-interacting gene hip14 promote habituation, using molecular and pharmacogenetic methods with behavioral assays.
- Identify causative mutations in six additional zebrafish habituation mutants through whole-genome sequencing and bioinformatics, confirm them with CRISPR/Cas9 alleles and map their brain expression.
- Determine how the receptor Celsr3 selectively boosts growth rates of regenerating central nervous system axons, using laser axotomy of single Mauthner-cell axons in larval zebrafish.
- Identify the molecular signaling cascade downstream of Celsr3 and find additional entry points into pathways that promote spontaneous spinal cord regeneration.
More about the research
The approach is to find genes that control behavior and repair, then trace how they act in cells and circuits.
Why it matters
Understanding the genes and circuits behind startle habituation could shed light on disorders where it is altered, such as autism and Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder. Finding pathways that drive spontaneous spinal cord regrowth in zebrafish could complement mammalian studies that focus on overcoming growth inhibition. This may eventually inform repair strategies for spinal cord injury.
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.
Hilary Katz
Western Kentucky University, KY·Neuroscience
Quantify how mechanosensory dorsal cells, spinal neurons that sense touch, change their electrical properties after spinal cord injury in larval sea lamprey, using intracellular electrophysiology recordings from single cells.
William S Talbot
Stanford University, CA·Neuroscience
Determine how newly identified positive and negative regulators of myelination control the wrapping of nerve fibers by oligodendrocytes during development, neural plasticity and remyelination, using zebrafish genetics and cellular analysis.
The school
University of Pennsylvania: 90 labs on PI Pages, $2.2B a year on research, 750 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
A start for your email. Fill in the brackets.