BIOGRAPHY:Research Director at CNRS, Group Leader at IGBMC.1985-1988:Graduate and Ph.D. degrees from German Cancer Research Centre at the University of Heidelberg.1988-1994: Postdoctoral employment at the German Cancer Research Centre, the University of Oregon, and the University of Oxford.1994- :University of StrasbourgRESEARCH INTERESTS:The main focus of the lab is the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms of pattern formation in the neural tube, how signals from surrounding non-neural tissues are integrated in the control of region-specific gene expression and cell differentiation. A newly emerging research theme in recent years addresses functional aspects of the nervous system. One emphasis in our research is the elucidation of cis-regulatory elements that control expression of a number of model genes such as sonic hedgehog, netrin1 and neurogenin1 in the central nervous system. As experimental systems we employ zebrafish, mouse but also chicken and Xenopus embryos. The rationale behind our approach is the notion that DNA regulatory elements are important sites of signal integration. We utilise comparative transgenesis and mutational approaches to identify relevant regulatory regions. In vitro methods and the yeast one-hybrid system are employed to identify interacting DNA binding proteins. In a second research line, we carry out genetic screens in the zebrafish to identify genes by function that are involved in the startle response of zebrafish embryos. The startle response is an escape behaviour which is controlled by a relatively simple network of primary neurons. These screens provide a low-effort search for functionality of the neural tube. We will utilise candidate or positional cloning approaches to characterise mutations molecularly.
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