Mary C. Halloran

 

 

Mechanisms of Axon Guidance in Zebrafish

E-mail: mchalloran@wisc.edu

Office Phone: (608) 263-7875

Research Strength: Development: Plasticity and Repair

Our research is aimed at understanding how axons are guided to their targets during development of the nervous system. Several families of molecules have been identified that can act as axon guidance cues by either attracting or repelling the motile growth cone at the tip of the growing axon. There is still relatively little known about how axonal growth cones are guided in the complex in vivo environment, where they must integrate multiple cues. We are investigating the function of guidance molecules in vivo using the zebrafish embryo as a model system. The zebrafish is a simple vertebrate with rapidly developing, optically transparent embryos ideal for visualizing developing axons. We use genetic and molecular manipulation of potential guidance cues combined with live imaging of growing axons to determine how guidance cues function in vivo to control the formation of neural connections.

Selected Publications:

• Berndt, J.D. and M.C. Halloran. 2006. Semaphorin3D promotes cell proliferation and neural crest cell development downstream of TCF in the zebrafish hindbrain. Development 133: 3983-3992.
• Halloran, M.C. and M.A. Wolman. 2006. Repulsion or adhesion: receptors make the call. Current Opinion Cell Biology 18: 533-540.
• Sakai, J.A. and M.C. Halloran. 2006. Semaphorin3D guides laterality of retinal ganglion cell projections in zebrafish. Development 133: 1035-1044.
• Paulus, J.D. and M.C. Halloran. 2006. Zebrafish bashful/Laminin-a1 mutants exhibit multiple axon guidance defects. Dev. Dyn. 235: 213-224.
• Liu, Y. and M.C. Halloran. 2005. Central and peripheral branches from one neuron are guided differentially by Sema3D and TAG-1. J. Neurosci. 25: 10556-10563.
• Stevens, C.B. and M.C. Halloran. 2005. Developmental expression of Sema3G, a novel zebrafish semaphorin. Gene Expr Patterns 5: 647-653. Erratum-name change to Sema3H.
• Wolman, M.A., Y. Liu, H. Tawarayama, W. Shoji, and M.C. Halloran. 2004. Repulsion and attraction of axons by Sema3D are mediated by different neuropilins in vivo. J. Neurosci. 24: 8428-8435/
• Liu, Y., J.D. Berndt, F. Su, H. Tawarayama, W. Shoji, J.Y. Kuwada, and M.C. Halloran. 2004. Semaphorin3D guides retinal axons along the dorsoventral axis of the tectum. J. Neurosci. 24: 310-318.
• Halloran, M.C. and J.D. Berndt. 2003. Current progress in neural crest motility and migration and future prospects for the zebrafish model system. Dev. Dyn. 228: 497-513.