Overview
Contact Dr. Gebelein
Brian Gebelein, PhD
3333 Burnet Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45229
brian.gebelein@cchmc.org
Phone: (513) 636-3366Nervous system development: understanding how the right neurons form in the right place
The nervous system consists of a centralized brain and nerve cord (the CNS), as well as a peripheral sensory system (the PNS), which are intricately linked for the detection of stimuli, processing of information, and the execution of complex behavior. How the appropriate neurons form and make the correct connections during development is a fundamental question in neuroscience. My laboratory is interested in identifying the genes that specify neuronal subtypes and determining how these neurons migrate to their appropriate locations along the developing body axis. Currently, we are focused on understanding how the Hox transcription factors specify distinct cell fates along the anterior-posterior (A-P) axis in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Hox genes are conserved in organisms from worms to humans. Vertebrates contain 39 Hox genes that participate in the developmental control of the nervous system, the skeletal system, the gastrointestinal system, the urogenital system, the blood system, and the limbs. Not surprisingly, mutations and/or mis-expression of Hox factors can cause limb malformations as well as leukemias and cancers. Our goal is to determine the mechanisms used by Hox factors to regulate growth control pathways in the nervous system. In addition, our studies in the fly nervous system have led to a surprising discovery that revealed a novel mechanism used by Hox factors to cause human leukemia in blood cells.
These studies are being further explored through three main projects in the lab:
- To understand how Hox and neuronal inputs are integrated to regulate sensory organ development.
- To understand how Hox factors antagonize Gfi1/Sens function: Implications for leukemia. (Collaboration with Dr. Lee Grimes)
- To perform genetic screens to identify factors regulating sensory organ formation and migration.
Publications, Most Recent
Bessa J, Gebelein B, Pichaud F, Casares F, and Mann RS. Combinatorial control of Drosophila eye development by Eyeless, Homothorax, and Teashirt. Genes Dev., 16: 2415-2427, 2002.
Gebelein B, Culi J, Ryoo HD, Zhang W, and Mann RS. Specificity of Distalless repression and limb primordia development by abdominal Hox proteins.Developmental Cell (Cover article), 3: 487-498, 2002.
Gebelein B, McKay D, and Mann RS. Direct integration of Hox and segmentation gene inputs during Drosophila development. Nature (article), 431: 653-659, 2004.
Gebelein B and Mann RS. Compartmental modulation of abdominal Hox expression by engrailed and sloppy-paired patterns the fly ectoderm. Developmental Biology (Cover article) 308(2):593-605, 2007.
Xie B, Charlton-Perkins M, McDonald E, Gebelein B, and Cook T. Senseless functions as a molecular switch for color photoreceptor differentiation in Drosophila. Development, 134(23):4243-53, 2007.
Li-Kroeger D, Witt LM, Grimes HL, Cook TA, and Gebelein B. Hox and Senseless antagonism functions as a molecular switch to regulate EGF secretion in the Drosophila PNS. In press Developmental Cell 2008.
Gebelein B and Urrutia R. Sequence-specific transcriptional repression by KS1, a multiple zinc finger Krüppel-associated box protein.Mol. Cell. Biol., 21: 928-939, 2001.
Contact Information
Students and Post-doctoral Fellows are encouraged to contact me regarding lab positions.
Brian Gebelein, PhD
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Division of Developmental Biology
Room 3039-3040
MLC-7007
3333 Burnet Ave
Cincinnati, OH 45229
e-mail: brian.gebelein@cchmc.org
Phone: (513) 636-3366
