Laure BALLY-CUIF
Zebrafish Neurogenetics (ZEN)
Zebrafish Neurogenetics (ZEN)
KEYWORDS: Neural stem cells
Telencephalon, zebrafish
Regulation of quiescence/activation, cell population behavior
Telencephalon, zebrafish
Regulation of quiescence/activation, cell population behavior
Our scientific interests lie in understanding the mechanisms controlling the specification and fate of neural progenitors (NPs) and neural stem cells (NSCs), in link with the functional organization, plasticity and susceptibility to disease of the vertebrate central nervous system. Adult NSC (aNSC) populations vary largely in extent, neurogenic potential and regenerative capacities between species, brain territories and patho-physiological conditions, and maintaining their homeostasis is fundamental to brain physiology. Understanding which parameters impact the dynamics of aNSC pools homeostasis is of primary importance for health and therapy, to control their maintenance and/or boost their reactivation along life. These parameters likely include cell intrinsic properties, population rules, and environmental cues.
To approach these questions, we are using as main model the adult dorsal telencephalon (pallium) of the zebrafish. Our previous work revealed that the zebrafish adult pallial germinal zone offers unique characteristics to combine single cell, population and spatio-temporal analyses to understand aNSC pools dynamics: (i) it is enriched in aNSCs, (ii) these are exposed at the brain surface as a 2D sheet providing direct optical access, and (iii) it is continuous across distinct territories, which include the homologs of neurogenic niches but also of silent domains in the mammalian brain. We are using this unique model to focus on several major questions: the bases of NSC pools homeostasis at the single cell and population levels in real time, how aNSCs origin may impact their properties, some pathological mechanisms of homeostasis loss, and how distinct neuronal identities are generated from aNSCs.
To approach these questions, we are using as main model the adult dorsal telencephalon (pallium) of the zebrafish. Our previous work revealed that the zebrafish adult pallial germinal zone offers unique characteristics to combine single cell, population and spatio-temporal analyses to understand aNSC pools dynamics: (i) it is enriched in aNSCs, (ii) these are exposed at the brain surface as a 2D sheet providing direct optical access, and (iii) it is continuous across distinct territories, which include the homologs of neurogenic niches but also of silent domains in the mammalian brain. We are using this unique model to focus on several major questions: the bases of NSC pools homeostasis at the single cell and population levels in real time, how aNSCs origin may impact their properties, some pathological mechanisms of homeostasis loss, and how distinct neuronal identities are generated from aNSCs.
|
|
|
3D view of the neural stem cell layer (green) of the telencephalon, observed lived through the skin and skull (cyan) of transparent transgenic animals.
|
Dissected adult zebrafish brain (with eyes). Dorsal up, anterior to the left.
The telencephalic hemispheres are surrounded by the yellow dashed lines. |
Cross-section of the adult zebrafish telencephalon (dorsal up).
It shows the neural stem cell layer (red, with one individual cell stained green) and parenchymal neurons (blue). |
Dorsal whole-mount view of the neural stem cell layer (green) in the zebrafish adult telencephalon
|
