Raj Awatramani,  PhD Assistant Professor Neurology Cell fate specification in the mammalian CNS Curricula: Neurobiology Developmental Biology Molecular Biology and Genetics E-mail:   r-awatramani@northwestern.edu

The adult mammalian brain is comprised of a plethora of molecularly and functionally distinct neuronal types, all of which are derived from a multipotent neural progenitor pool. I am interested in how combinations of genes act together to specify distinct neuronal types from this progenitor pool.

The early embryonic neural tube can be viewed as a grid of information with unique gene expression domains subdividing both the anterior-posterior and the dorsoventral axis. To determine the consequences of this molecular grid of information, i.e. how progenitors located at unique coordinate positions and expressing unique combinations of genes, are allocated towards distinct fates, we have developed a dual recombinase-based intersectional gene activation system. This method allows the permanent activation of a reporter gene in progenitors located at the intersection of two gene expression domains. Using these fate mapping tools in addition to other molecular genetic approaches, we are beginning to uncover how progenitors located at unique gene intersections in the embryonic hindbrain, are allocated to give rise to specific neuronal fates.

Publications:

Landsberg, R.*, Awatramani, R.* , Hunter, N., Farago, A, Dipietrantonio, H, Rodriguez, C. and Dymecki, S. (2005) Hindbrain rhombic lip is comprised of discrete progenitor cell populations allocated by Pax6. ( Neuron , 48:1-15) * contributed equally to this work

Hunter, N., Awatramani R. , Farley, F. and Dymecki, S. (2005) Ligand-activated Flpe for temporally regulated gene modifications . Genesis 41(3):99-109.

Awatramani, R ., Soriano, P., Rodriguez, C., Mai, J.J., and Dymecki, S. (2003) Cryptic boundaries in roof plate and choroid plexus identified by intersectional gene activation. Nature Genetics . 35(1): 70-5.

Awatramani, R ., Shumas, S., Kamholz, J., and Scherer, S. (2002) TGFb1 Modulates the Phenotype of Schwann Cells at the Transcriptional Level. Mol. Cell. Neurosci. 19(3):307-19.

Dymecki, S., Rodriguez, C., Awatramani, R . (2002) Switching on lineage tracers using site-specific recombination. Methods. Mol. Biol. 185:309-34.

Awatramani, R ., Soriano, P., Mai, J., Dymecki, S.(2001) An Flp indicator mouse expressing alkaline phosphatase from the ROSA26 locus. Nature Genetics .;29(3):257-9.

View Publications by Raj Awatramani listed in the National Library of Medicine (PubMed).