Grant Details

Molecular Specification Of Motor Neuron Progenitor Cell Fate Specification In The CNS
Lukaszewicz, PhD, Agnes, Anderson, PhD, David
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA

Project Summary
(*2005 Recipient of The Milton Safenowitz Post Doctoral Fellowship for ALS Research)

Lukaszewicz and her mentor, David Anderson, Ph.D., at the California Institute of Technology have been working out how motor neurons arise in a region of the developing spinal cord. This region produces the cells that specialize to become the motor neurons. As these cells take on their specialized roles, they activate genes to make the proteins that will be involved in sending nerve fibers out to connect to and control muscles. Lukaszewicz hopes to provide details of the molecular circuitry underlying how motor neurons are formed and how and when they innervate muscle. Knowledge obtained from these studies could potentially be applied to develop a treatment for ALS.